A  Di^it  of 


the  Moo 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
LOS  ANGELES 


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in  2007  with  funding  from 

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http://www.archive.org/details/digitofmoonotherOObainiala 


By  F.  W.  BAIN 

Tramlattd/rom  the  Original  ManutcripU 

A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

And  Other  Love  Stories  from  the  Hindu 

A   Draught    of    the    Bine 

together  with 

An  Essence  of  the  Dusk 

An  Incarnation  of  the  Snow 

A  Mine  of  Faults 

The  Ashes  of  a  God 


A  DtQIT  OF  THE  MOON 


(Se«  page  •«)) 


A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

and 

Other  Love  Stories  from 
the  Hindoo 

Translated  from  the  Original  Manuscripts 
By 

F.  W.  i^ 


G.  p.  Putnam's  Sons 

New  York  and  London 
Zbc  ftntckerbocfter  pred0 


Contents 

PAGB 

A  Digit  of  the  Moon  ...  .  .  i 
A  Heifer  of  the  Dawn  .....  133 
The  Descent  of  the  Sun  ....  213 
In  the  Great  God's  Hair        .        .        .        .331 


( 


ffl 


y«GS80 


A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

A  Hindoo  Love  Story 


^  ^        ^  ^-    J*-         -  ^  — ^ — 


To  My  Wife 


Contents 

[For  the  convenience  of  the  English  reader  I  have  added 

descriptive  titles  to  the  sections.     The  original 

contains  none.] 


Introduction 

.     The  Story  of  the  Creation  of 

Woman            ..... 

21 

Day    I. 

The 

Story  of  Ganesha  and  the  Chdr- 

wdka 

35 

2. 

"          the  Brahman's  Cows 

42 

"       3- 

the  Baby  Raja       . 

45 

4- 

"          Bimba  and  Pratibimba   . 

50 

"       5- 

"          Suwarnashild 

54 

"       6. 

"          the  Three  Queens  . 

59 

"       7- 

"          the    False    Ascetic   and 

the  King's  Daughter  . 

64 

"       8. 

"          the     Pilgrim     and    the 

Ganges 

71 

"       9- 

the  Repentant  Wife 

76 

lO. 

the  Wrestler's  Pet 

80 

II. 

"          the  Domestic  Chaplain  . 

83 

12. 

"       •   the    Elephant    and   the 

Ant    .... 

88 

13- 

"          the  Mirage  Hunter 

93 

14. 

the  Red  Lips 

96 

"     15- 

"          the  Lotus  and  the  Bee     . 

100 

"     16. 

"          the  Gem  in  the  Snake's 

Hood 

104 

6 

Contents 

Day  17. 

The  Story  of  the  King's  Dream . 

PACB 

.         108 

"     18. 

Love  and  Death    . 

.         113 

"     19- 

Kritdkrita      . 

.         117 

"     20. 

Conclusion     . 

.       122 

Note. — The  Vignette  is  a  rude  sketch  by  the  translator 
from  an  old  bust  of  Ganesha.  He  has  only  one  tusk,  and 
should  have  four  arms,  but  they  have  been  broken.  His 
favoiuite  vehicle  is  a  movtse  or  rat,  and  his  trunk  is  always 
considered  to  be  smeared  with  vermilion.  He  is  the  God  of 
Success,  and  the  Remover  of  Obstacles,  and  woe  to  the  man 
who  should  neglect  to  conciliate  him,  at  the  opening  of  any 
undertaking! 


'^■■w     Prefatory  Note  to  Second  Edition 

The  better  to  illustrate  how,  in  Hindoo  mytho- 
logy, the  ideas  of  a  beautiful  woman,  the  Moon, 
and  the  Sea,  dissolve  and  disappear  into  one 
another,  I  have  placed  on  the  fly-leaf  of  this 
edition  a  single  stanza,  drawn  from  another  part 
of  my  MS.,  which  characteristically  exemplifies 
that  dissolving  view;  subjoining  here,  for  the 
benefit  of  the  uninitiated,  a  literal  translation: 

"  0  thou  lovely  Incarnation  of  the  Nectar-dropping 
Moon,  come  down  from  Heaven  to  lighten  our 
Darkness:  Delight  of  the  Race  of  Man,  retaining 
in  thy  Womanhood  the  dancing  Play  of  the  Waves 
of  that  Sea  of  Milk  out  of  which  thou  wert  originally 
churned  by  the  Gods,  we  the  Three  Worlds  (i.  e.,  of 
Childhood,  Manhood,  and  Age)  do  worship  the  Orb 
of  thy  Bosom  that  possesses  for  us  a  Threefold 
Mystical  Feminine  Energy  ^;    being  a  Pitcher  of 

>  The  last  lines  contain  recondite  philosophical  allusions  to 
the  Creation,  Preservation,  and  Destruction  of  the  World,  and 
other  matters,  in  technical  terms  which  defy  translation. 
Life  in  Hindoo  philosophy,  as  in  that  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
carries  about  with  it  a  perfume  of  death:  there  is  in  its  at- 
mosphere something  melancholy,  and  even  a  little  morbid, 
like  the  slow  tolling  of  a  bell. 

7 


8      Prefatory  Note  to  Second  Edition 

Milk  for  us,  when  we  are  Born;  a  Pillow  for  us, 
in  the  Middle  of  the  Path  of  Life;  and  a  Shrine,  in 
which  we  take  refuge  to  die  at  the  last. ' ' 

But  we  lose,  in  a  literal  prose  version,  the 
reverberation,  and  the  echo  of  the  Sea,  which 
undertones  the  meaning  of  the  words  like  the  ac- 
companiment to  a  song.  This  sound  we  might 
make  some  attempt  to  preserve,  without  doing 
violence  to  the  sense,  as  follows : 

Like  a  New  Moon's  exquisite  Incarnation, 
In  the  Ebb  and  Flow  of  a  Surging  Sea, 

Wave -breasted  Beauty,  the  whole  Creation 
Wanes,  and  waxes,  and  rocks  on  thee! 

For  we  rise  and  fall  on  thy  Bosom's  Billow 
Whose  heaving  Swell  is  our  Home  Divine, 

Our  Chalice  at  Dawn,  and  our  hot  Noon's  Pillow, 
Our  Evening's  Shrine. 

WOOLACOMBE  BaY,  April  29,  1901. 


Preface  to  First  Edition 

A  Digit  of  the  Moon  is  the  sixteenth  part  of 
a  much  longer  work,  entitled  The  Churning  of  the 
Ocean  of  Time}  A  well-known  Hindoo  legend 
recounts  how  the  gods  and  antigods  assembled  to 
chum  the  ocean  of  milk  ^  for  the  nectar  of  im- 
mortality. After  throwing  in  herbs  of  various 
kinds,  they  churned  it  with  Mount  Mandara,  and 
obtained  the  nectar,  with  certain  other  things, 
one  of  which  was  the  Moon,  who,  by  the  way,  is 
often  called  "the  Lord  of  Herbs." 

But  in  Sanskrit,  the  Moon,  like  the  Sun,  is  a 
male.  Hindoo  poets  get  over  this  difficulty,  when 
they  want  a  female  Moon,  by  personifying  his 
attributes,  or  making  a  part  do  duty  for  the 
whole.  Thus,  his  disc  is  divided  into  sixteen 
parts,  called  "  streaks  "  or  "  digits,''  and  a  beautiful 
woman  is  "a  digit  of  the  moon.'' 

»  Sansdra-sdgara-manthanam. 

2  For  milk  the  author  has  substituted  a  technical  word 
which  means  the  world  considered  as  the  scene  of  never-ending 
transmigrations.  ("O  world!  O  life!  O  time!")  By  this  he 
implies  that  the  nectar  of  his  work  is  the  residuum  of  much 
churning  of  life  and  experience  of  the  world,  and  that  it  is 
destined  to  be  immortal. 


lo  Preface  to  First  Edition 

The  whole  work,  then,  called  The  Churning  of 
the  Ocean  of  Time,  is,  like  the  Moon,  divided  into 
sixteen  parts,  each  named  after  one  of  the  digits 
of  the  Moon.  The  one  now  before  the  reader  is 
called  A  Digit  of  the  Moon,  turned  red  by  the  rays 
of  the  dawning  Sun.'  The  point  lies  in  the  play 
on  the  word  red,  which  in  the  original  also  means 
''enamoured,''  "in  love.''  That  is  to  say,  that  the 
heroine  of  the  story  "  turns  red,"  i.  e.,  falls  in  love 
with  the  hero,  whose  name,  it  will  be  found,  is 
Suryakanta,  or  "Sunstone." 


I  little  thought,  ten  years  ago,  that  it  would 
ever  be  my  lot  to  play,  as  it  were,  the  part  of 
Boccaccio,  and  bring  forth  meat  from  the  eater, 
stories  from  a  plague.  Yet  here  also  the  unex- 
pected came  about,  in  the  following  way : 

Considering  how  recently  Europe  has  become 
aware  of  the  very  existence  of  a  Sanskrit  litera- 
ture, I  had  often  wondered  whether  there  might 
not  be  hidden  away,  here  and  there,  in  the 
vast    ocean    of  •  India,    literary    treasures    still 

1  I  have  never  experienced  a  stranger  or  more  delightful 
sensation  than  when,  as  I  was  translating  this  work,  I  saw 
this  very  phenomenon  on  the  Ghauts  at  Mahabaleshwar :  a 
blood-red  Moon  going  down  into  the  hills  at  early  dawn,  with 
the  Sun  rising  on  the  opposite  peaks.  Only  the  redness  which 
the  poet  ascribes  to  the  Sun  was  of  course  due  to  the  haze 
of  the  atmosphere. 


Preface  to  First  Edition  1 1 

undiscovered,  which  future  "churning"  might 
bring  up.  But  I  did  not  expect  that  my  question 
would  ever  receive  a  practical  answer.  However, 
a  few  years  ago,  when  the  plague  was  decimating 
the  city  of  Poona,  carrying  off  its  victims  by 
hundreds  a  day,  personal  acquaintance  with  some 
of  the  officers  appointed  by  Government  to  cope 
with  the  enemy  put  it  into  my  pow^er  to  do  a 
slight  service  to  an  old  Mard.tha  Brahman,  whose 
name,  by  his  own  particular  desire,  I  suppress. 
My  "service"  was  indeed  a  mere  trifle,  a  thing 
of  which  no  Englishman  would  have  thought 
twice.  Hindoos,  however,  look  on  these  matters 
with  very  different  eyes.  An  Englishman's  house 
may  be  his  castle,  but  a  Hindoo's  house  is  a 
shrine,  a  holy  of  holies,  which  for  unhallowed 
footsteps  to  invade  is  desecration.  I  was  amused 
to  find  that  my  old  Brahman  regarded  me  almost 
as  though  I  had  preserved  his  family  from  name- 
less and  everlasting  infamy.  And  when  he  sub- 
sequently discovered  that  I  was  a  humble  student 
of  the  "polished,  sacred"  language,  and  could 
make  shift  to  admire  his  beloved  Kdlidds  in  the 
original,  his  esteem  for  me  rose  to  a  degree  almost 
embarrassing.  He  came  two  or  three  times  to 
see  me,  and  took  an  obvious  pleasure  in  dilating 
on  the  beauties  of  his  ancient  authors  to  one  who 
was  at  least  a  good  listener.     But  it  struck  me  as 


12  Preface  to  First  Edition 

curious  that  every  time  he  went  away  he  seemed, 
as  it  were,  labouring  to  deliver  himself  of  some  im- 
portant .communication,  which  nevertheless  he 
shrank  from  discovering  to  me;  and  he  always 
eventually  departed,  with  an  air  of  some  con- 
fusion, and  his  secret  left  untold.  I  thought  at 
the  time  that  he  was  only  nerving  himself  to 
make  some  request  of  me,  of  which  he  doubted 
the  reception,  and  was  tinable  to  screw  his  courage 
to  the  sticking-point.     But  I  was  mistaken. 

Our  interviews  came  to  an  abrupt  conclusion. 
The  plague  stepped  in  and  swept  his  family  clean 
away,  carrying  off  his  wife,  all  his  children,  and 
various  others  of  his  kin,  leaving  him  alone  un- 
touched— but  not  for  long.  One  evening,  when 
I  came  home  late,  having  been  out  nearly  all  day, 
I  found  on  my  doorstep  a  messenger  who  had  been 
waiting  for  me,  with  the  inexhaustible  patience 
of  an  Oriental,  for  many  hours.  The  plague  had 
remembered  my  old  Brahman  at  last,  and  he  had 
sent  to  ask  me  to  come  and  see  him,  "  on  business 
of  importance."  I  went  off  accordingly  to  a 
segregation  camp,  whither  he  had  been  removed, 
and,  much  to  my  relief,  arrived  in  time  to  find 
him  conscious;  for  he  was  a  fine  old  gentleman, 
and  when  a  Brahman  is  a  gentleman,  he  is  a  strik- 
ing type  of  humanity.  He  confused  me  by  thank- 
ing me,  for  the  hundredth  time,  for  my  good 


Preface  to  First  Edition  13 

offices,  adding,  however,  that  they  had  been,  in  a 
certain  sense,  wasted,  as  he  was  the  only  one  left 
of  his  family,  and  now  he  also,  he  was  glad  to  say, 
was  going  the  same  way.  He  said  that  he  had 
been  anxious  to  see  me  before  he  died,  because  he 
had  something  of  value  to  give  me.  Hereupon 
he  produced  what  the  uninitiated  might  have 
taken  for  a  packet  of  ladies'  long  six-button 
gloves,  pressed  together  between  two  strips  of 
wood  about  the  size  of  a  cheroot  box,  and  tied 
round  with  string;  but  which  from  experience  I 
knew  to  be  a  manuscript.^  He  handed  it  to  me, 
observing  that  it  had  been  in  the  possession  of 
his  family  from  a  time  beyond  memory,  and  that 
nothing  would  ever  have  induced  him  to  part  with 
it,  had  any  of  that  family  remained  to  possess  it ; 
but  as  they  were  all  gone,  and  as,  moreover,  it 
would  certainly  be  burned  by  the  plague  authori- 
ties as  soon  as  he  was  dead,  it  was  mine,  if  I  cared 
to  accept  it.  If  not,  he  said,  with  an  effort  to 
smile,  no  matter:  it  could,  like  a  faithful  wife, 
enter  the  fire  on  the  death  of  its  owner ;  yet  that 
would  be  a  pity,  for  it  was  worth  preserving.  I 
accepted  his  present,  and  he  bade  me  farewell. 

>  Though  I  make  no  attempt  to  assign  a  date  to  this  MS., 
the  reader  should  observe  that  in  India  printing  has  not  super- 
seded hand  work.  The  Hindoos  have  religiovis  prejudices 
against  printed  books,  and  they  will  not  use  them  in  their 
temples,  or  for  sacred  purposes. 


14  Preface  to  First  Edition 

I  took  leave  of  the  old  man,  not  without  emotion, 
for  grief  and  approaching  death  had  converted 
his  face  to  the  very  incarnation  of  misery ;  and  I 
learned  on  enquiry  that  he  died  about  thirty -six 
hours  afterwards,  in  the  early  morning. 

Notwithstanding  the  hints  let  fall  by  its  former 
owner,  I  own  I  was  dubious  as  to  the  value  of  my 
MS.,  for  Hindoos  will  admire  anything  in  Sanskrit. 
But  when — after  having  redeemed  it  with  diffi- 
culty from  the  ordeal  of  fire  and  the  plague 
authorities  by  subjecting  it  to  severe  fumigations 
— I  fell  to  examining  it,^  I  apologised  to  the 
manes  of  my  old  Brahman  for  doubting  his  judg- 
ment, and  blessed  him  for  his  present,  which  is,  I 
will  venture  to  say,  unique  in  literature.  But  I 
will  leave  the  reader  to  judge  of  it  for  himself, 2 
warning  him  only  that  no  language  loses  so  much 
by  translation  as  the  Sanskrit ;  and  advising  him, 
for  his  own  sake,  to  read  it  consecutively  through, 
or  he  will  lose  much.^  I  cannot  refrain  from  ob- 
serving, however,  that  it  differs  from  the  general 
run  of  classical  Sanskrit  productions  in  two  very 
striking  particulars — the  simplicity  of   its  style, 

1  A  well-written  MS.  in  the  D4wandgari  character  is  hardly, 
if  at  all,  inferior  to  print. 

2  At  some  future  time  I  hope  to  translate  the  remainder,  or 
part  of  it. 

3  Its  principal  beauty  lies  in  the  skill  of  its  climax,  which  is 
lost  by  neglecting  the  order. 


Preface  to  First  Edition  15 

and  the  originality  of  its  matter.  As  to  the  latter, 
everybody  knows  that  classical  Sanskrit  authors 
have  no  originality.  They  do  but  rhetorically 
reset  and  embellish  notorious  themes:  such 
originality  as  they  exhibit  lying,  not  in  their 
subject,  but  in  its  treatment.  Our  author  is  an 
exception.  Whoever  he  was,  he  must  have  pos- 
sessed the  gift  of  imagination:  for  though  the 
plan  of  the  story  was  doubtless  suggested  by  the 
Wetdla-panchawimshatikd,  yet  so  novel  and  poet- 
ical is  the  use  made  of  it  that  it  may  fairly  claim 
to  owe  but  little  to  its  source,  while  all  the  par- 
ticular stories  are  curious  and  original.  The  book 
differs,  again,  in  a  remarkable  manner  from  other 
classical  products  of  the  Hindoo  Muse  in  the 
simplicity  of  its  style.  The  author  would  seem 
to  have  deliberately  chosen  the  epic  ^  rather  than 
the  classic  style  as  his  model.  We  find  here  none 
of  that  artificiality,  that  straining  and  effort  at 
style  for  its  own  sake,  that  perverse  elaboration, 
those  insipid,  intolerable  shleshas  and  interminable 
compounds  which  reach  a  climax  in  the  appalling 
concatenations  of,  e.  g.,  the  Kddamhari.  Mature 
Hindoo  literature  exhibits  precisely  the  same  ten- 
dency as  its  architecture:    ornament  is  piled  on 

I  The  poem  is  written  in  shldkas,  or  anushtubh,  with  oc- 
casional de\-iations  (as,  e.  g.,  the  conclvision)  into  more  elab- 
orate metres. 


1 6  Preface  to  First  Edition 

ornament  with  aimless,  tasteless  extravagance, 
till  the  whole  becomes  nauseous,  and  all  imity  is 
smothered  and  annihilated  tmder  a  load  of  rhetor- 
ical gewgaws.  Just  as  the  rank  and  luxuriant 
growth  of  a  creeper  will  sometimes  drain  of  its 
juices,  dry  up,  and  destroy  the  tree  it  was  designed 
to  adorn,  so  the  over-development  of  gaudy 
rhetorical  blossoms  and  effeminate  literary  pretti- 
nesses  has  desiccated  and  broken  the  spring  of  the 
Hindoo  mind.  The  best  things  in  the  literature 
are  just  those  which  are  simplest,  and  therefore, 
as  a  rule,  oldest.  Literary  arabesque  nearly  al- 
ways indicates  and  springs  from  the  absence  of 
anything  to  say;  a  poverty  of  creative  ideas. 
But  our  author  has  really  a  story  to  tell,  and  can 
therefore  afford  to  exhibit  it  in  naked,  unadorned 
simplicity. 

Finally,  the  words  which  stand  as  a  motto  on 
the  title-page  have  a  history  of  their  own.  They 
are  the  closing  lines  of  the  Shakuntald,  and  they 
mean,  briefly :  0  Shiwa,  grant  that  I  may  never  he 
horn  again.  There  is  a  curiosa  jelicitas  in  their 
application  to  the  conclusion  of  the  story,  where 
indeed,  I  found  them,  scribbled  in  the  margin  by 
another  hand;  and  though  it  cannot  be  proved, 
I  am  convinced  that  they  were  placed  there  by 
my  old  Brahman  himself  (who  had  Kalidas  by 
heart),  when  he  took  his  farewell  of  the  MS.,  in 


Preface  to  First  Edition  17 

an  access  of  grief  and  despair  at  feeling  his  family- 
annihilated  and  himself  deprived  of  all  that  had 
made  his  life  worth  living,  by  the  plague.  Let 
us  hope  that  the  old  man  has  had  his  wish,  and 
that  "the  purple-tinted  god"  has  ''destroyed  his 
rebirth." 

MahXbaleshwar,  1898. 


A  Digit  of  the  Moon 


«9 


INTRODUCTION 

THE   STORY   OF   THE   CREATION    OF    WOMAN 
INVOCATION  1 

May  the  kindly  three -eyed  god,^  who  stained  his 
throat  deep-purple  by  the  draught  of  deadly  poison 
which  he  swallowed  for  the  preservation  of  the 
world,  preserve  you.  May  the  Elephant-faced  One  ^ 
sweep  away  with  his  trunk  all  impediments  to  my 
thoughts,  and  may  Wdni^  inspire  in  my  mind  for 
every  thought  its  proper  word. 

There  lived  formerly,  in  a  certain  country,  a 
king,  called  Suryakanta.^  And  his  armies,  guided 
by  Valour  and  Policy,  had  penetrated  in  all 
directions  to  the  shore  of  the  ocean,  and  his 
intellect  had  gone  to  the  further  shore  of  all  the 
sciences,  so  that  one  thing  only  was  unknown  to 

•  Some  such  benedictory  exordium  as  this  is  regarded  as 
indispensable  by  every  Sanskrit  author :  yet  it  is  remarkable 
that  K^lidas  is  careless  of  the  rule;  e.  g.,  his  Cloud  and  his 
Seasons  begin  at  once  without  any  invocation  at  all. 

2  Shiwa. 

>  Ganesha  or  Ganapati.     See  Day  One. 

*  Saraswati,  the  goddess  of  speech. 

^  I.  e.,  "sim-beloved";  the  name  of  a  fabulous  gem,  "sun- 
stone"  (cp.  "moonstone"),  said  to  possess  magical  properties 
and  exhibit  them  when  acted  upon  by  the  rays  of  the  sun. 

21 


2  2  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

him,  woman,  and  the  love  of  woman.  He  was, 
as  it  were,  the  very  incarnation  of  the  spirit  of 
misogyny,  beautiful  exceedingly  himself,  to  scorch 
with  the  hot  rays  of  his  glory  the  despairing 
hearts  of  all  fair  women  who  might  chance  to  cast 
eyes  upon  him,  yet  himself  cold  as  snow  to  their 
own  melting  glances.  And  as  time  went  on,  his 
ministers  became  full  of  concern  for  the  future  of 
the  kingdom,  for  they  said :  The  King  has  no  son, 
and  if  he  should  die,  everything  will  go  to  ruin  for 
want  of  an  heir.  So  they  took  counsel  among 
themselves,  and  sending  for  them  wherever  they 
could  find  them,  they  threw  in  his  way  tempta- 
tions in  the  form  of  beautiful  women,  raining  on 
him,  as  it  were,  showers  of  the  quintessence  of  all 
the  female  beauty  in  the  world.  But  all  was  of 
no  avail;  for  no  matter  what  shape  it  took,  the 
celestial  loveliness  of  those  ladies  made  no  more 
impression  on  the  King's  mind  than  a  forest  leaf 
falling  on  the  back  of  a  wild  elephant.  Then  the 
ministers  fell  into  despair,  exclaiming:  Truly 
there  is  a  point  at  which  virtues  become  vices. 
It  is  well  for  a  king  to  avoid  the  wiles  of  women ; 
but  out  on  this  woman-hating  king!  the  king- 
dom will  be  undone  for  him.  And  they  took 
counsel  again  among  themselves,  and  made 
representations  to  the  King,  exhorting  him  to 
marriage.     But  he  would  not  listen  to  anything 


The  Creation  of  Woman  23 

they  could  say.  So  being  at  their  wits'  end,  they 
caused  it  to  be  bruited  about  without  the  King's 
knowledge,  by  means  of  their  spies,  that  they 
would  give  a  crore  ^  of  gold  pieces  to  any  one  who 
could  produce  a  change  in  the  mind  of  the  King, 
and  inspire  him  with  an  inclination  for  marriage. 
But  though  many  charlatans  presented  them- 
selves and  performed  incantations  and  other  such 
devices,  no  one  could  be  found  able  to  effect  the 
desired  end.  On  the  contrary,  the  King's  hos- 
tility to  the  other  sex  increased  so  much,  that  he 
punished  every  woman  who  came  within  the 
range  of  his  sight  by  banishing  her  from  the 
kingdom.  And  in  their  fear  lest  the  kingdom 
should  be  wholly  deprived  of  its  women,  the  min- 
isters had  to  place  spies  about  the  King,  who  ran 
before  him  wherever  he  went,  and  made  all  the 
women  keep  out  of  his  way.  And  this  task  was 
as  difficult  as  standing  on  the  edge  of  a  sword, 
for  all  the  women  in  the  kingdom  were  drawn  to 
see  him  by  love  and  curiosity  as  if  he  were  a 
magnet  ^  and  they  so  many  pieces  of  iron. 

Then  one  day  there  came  to  the  capital  a  cer- 
tain painter.^    And  he,  as  soon  as  he  arrived,  made 

«  Ten  millions. 

2  A  kind  of  play  on  the  King's  name:  Idhakdnta  means  a 
loadstone. 

J  This  method  of  bringing  lovers  together  is  part  of  a 
Hindoo  story-teller's  romantic  machinery. 


24  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

enquiries  as  to  the  wonders  of  that  city.  Then 
the  people  told  him :  The  greatest  wonder  in  our 
city  is  our  King,  Suryakd,nta  himself.  For 
though  he  is  a  king,  nothing  will  induce  him  to 
have  anything  to  do  with  women,  from  the  pea- 
cock of  whose  beauty  he  flies  as  if  he  were  a  snake. 
And  yet  he  is  himself  like  a  second  god  of  love,  so 
that  here  is  the  marvel :  that  one  whom  the  Fish- 
bannered  god  1  has  created  as  a  sixth  weapon  to 
cleave  the  hearts  of  the  female  sex  should  have  no 
curiosity  to  exert  his  powers.  Should  the  sun 
refuse  to  warm,  or  the  wind  to  blow?  But  when 
the  painter  heard  this  he  laughed,  and  said:  I 
possess  a  charm  that  would  act  like  the  sun  upon 
its  gem. 2  And  one  of  the  spies  of  the  ministers 
heard  him,  and  went  and  told  them  of  his  arrival 
and  his  brag.  And  they  immediately  summoned 
that  painter  and  questioned  him,  telling  him  the 
whole  state  of  the  case,  and  promising  him  the 
reward  if  he  could  make  his  words  good.  And 
the  painter  said:  Contrive  that  the  King  shall 
send  for  me,  and  leave  the  rest  to  me. 

So  the  ministers  went  and  told  the  King :  Sire, 
there  has  arrived  in  your  capital  a  painter,  whose 
equal  in  skill  is  not  to  be  found  in  the   three 

^  The  Hindoo  Cupid,  who  is  said  to  possess  five  bewildering 
weapons. 

'Alluding  to  the  King's  name:  see  n.  p.  21, 


The  Creation  of  Woman  25 

worlds.  And  when  the  King  heard  it  he  was 
delighted,  for  he  was  himself  skilled  in  the  art  of 
painting  and  all  other  arts;  and  he  caused  the 
painter  to  be  brought  into  his  presence.  But 
he,  when  he  came,  was  amazed  at  the  extra- 
ordinary beauty  of  the  King,  and  he  exclaimed: 
O  King,  you  have  caused  me  to  obtain  the  fruit 
of  my  birth  in  bestowing  on  me  the  priceless  boon 
of  a  sight  of  your  incomparable  beauty.  And 
now  only  one  more  thing  remains.  I  implore 
your  Majesty  to  let  me  make  a  copy  of  it,  in  order 
that  in  future  I  may  never  be  without  it.  For 
the  sun  warms  even  when  reflected  in  a  poor 
mirror.  Then  the  King  said:  Show  me  first 
specimens  of  your  skill.  But  beware  that  you 
show  me  no  women,  otherwise  it  will  be  worse 
for  you.  So  the  painter  showed  him  a  collection 
of  pictures  of  all  the  coimtries  in  the  world,  but 
among  them  he  had  secretly  placed  the  portrait 
of  a  woman.  And  as  the  King  was  turning  over 
the  pictures,  one  by  one,  he  suddenly  came  upon 
that  portrait.  But  the  moment  he  looked  at  it, 
he  fell  to  the  groimd  in  a  swoon. 

Then  the  painter  laughed,  and  said  to  the  min- 
isters :  The  cure  is  effected :  pay  the  physician  his 
fee.  But  they  replied :  We  must  first  be  sure  that 
the  patient  is  really  cured.  The  painter  replied: 
You  will  soon  find  that  out.     Look  to  the  King, 


26  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

and  restore  him,  and  see  what  he  says  when  he 
comes  to  himself  and  finds  that  I  am  not  here. 
For  in  the  meanwhile  I  will  go  out  of  the  room. 

Then  the  ministers  summoned  attendants,  who 
fanned  the  King  with  palm-leaves,  and  sprinkled 
him  with  water  scented  with  sandal.  And  the 
King  revived,  and  instantly  looking  round,  ex- 
claimed :  The  painter,  the  painter !  The  ministers 
said :  Sire,  he  is  gone.  But  when  the  King  heard 
that,  he  changed  colour,  and  his  voice  trembled, 
and  he  said:  If  you  have  allowed  him  to  escape, 
I  will  have  you  all  trampled  to  death  by  elephants 
before  the  sun  goes  down.  So  they  went  out 
qmckly  and  found  the  painter,  and  fetched  him 
in  again  before  the  King.  And  he  fell  at  the 
King's  feet,  saying:  May  the  King  forgive  me! 
Alas!  my  evil  fortune  must  have  mixed  up  that 
lady's  portrait  among  my  other  pictures,  to 
bring  me  to  destruction.  But  the  King  said:  O 
most  admirable  of  all  painters,  past,  present,  or 
to  come,  know  that  you  have  conferred  a  benefit 
upon  me  by  exhibiting  that  portrait  to  me,  which 
I  could  not  repay  even  with  my  whole  kingdom. 
And  beyond  doubt,  that  lady  must  have  been  my 
wife  in  a  previous  existence,  for  emotions  such 
as  these  point  unmistakably  to  a  former  life. 
Now  then,  tell  me,  of  what  land  is  her  father  the 
king?     For  certain  I  am,  that  it  is  a  portrait,  for 


The  Creation  of  Woman  27 

such  beauty  as  hers  could  not  have  been  con- 
ceived by  any  mortal  brain.  None  but  the 
Creator  himself  could  have  fashioned  her.  Then 
the  painter  smiled,  and  said :  O  King,  be  warned 
by  me.  Dismiss  this  lady  from  your  mind,  and 
think  of  her  no  more ;  otherwise  my  carelessness 
may  turn  out  to  have  been  the  cause  of  your  ruin. 
But  the  King  said :  Painter,  no  more !  Choose, 
either  to  tell  me  who  she  is,  and  be  loaded  with 
gold ;  or  not,  and  I  will  load  you  with  chains,  and 
imprison  you  in  a  loathsome  dungeon,  with  neither 
food  nor  water,  till  you  do. 

Then  the  painter  said:  King,  since  there  is  no 
help  for  it,  and  your  fate  will  have  it  so,  learn, 
that  this  is  the  portrait  of  Anangardga,^  the 
daughter  of  a  brother  of  the  King  of  the  Ndgas,^ 
who  lives  by  herself  in  a  palace  in  the  forest,  two 
months'  journey  from  here.  And  what  her 
beauty  is,  you  yourself  partly  know  by  personal 
experience  of  the  effect  which  even  in  a  picture 
it  produced  upon  you:  yet  what  picture  could 
be  equal  to  the  reality?  For  every  one  that  sees 
her  instantly  falls  in  love  with  her,  and  many 

*  I.e.,  "the  passion,  or  the  rosy- blush,  of  love."  (Pronotince 
the  first  two  syllables  to  rhyme  with  "among,"  with  a  north- 
country  "g.") 

*  These  Ndgas  are  beings  of  serpent  nature,  but  often  con- 
founded with  men  :  e.g.,  in  Kathd  Saritsdgara,  I.  6,  the  nephew 
of  the  King  of  the  Nagas  is  said  to  be  a  Brahman.  Their 
women  are  of  inconceivable  loveliness. 


28  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

swoon  away,  as  you  did,  and  there  are  some  who 
have  even  died.  And  yet  the  Creator,  when  he 
made  her  a  casket  of  beauty  so  inimitably  lovely, 
placed  within  it  a  heart  of  adamant,  so  hard  that 
it  laughs  at  all  the  efforts  of  the  flowery-arrowed 
god  to  pierce  it.  For  innumerable  suitors  have 
sought  her  in  marriage,  coming  from  all  the  quar- 
ters of  the  world,  and  she  receives  them  all  with 
scornful  indifference,  yet  entertains  them  mag- 
nificently for  twenty-one  days,  on  this  condition, 
that  every  day  they  ask  her  a  riddle.^  And  if 
any  suitor  should  succeed  in  asking  her  some- 
thing that  she  cannot  answer,  then  she  herself  is 
to  be  the  prize ;  but  if  within  the  stipulated  time 
he  fails,  then  he  becomes  her  slave,  to  be  disposed 
of  how  she  will.  And  no  one  has  ever  yet  suc- 
ceeded in  asking  her  anything  she  cannot  answer ; 
for  she  is  of  superhuman  intelligence,  and  learned 
in  all  the  sciences;  but  of  the  countless  suitors 
who  have  tried  and  failed,  some  she  has  sent 
away,  and  others  she  retains  about  her  person  as 
slaves,  pitilessly  showing  them  every  day  that 
beauty  which  is  for  ever  unattainable  to  them, 
so  that  their  lot  is  infinitely  worse  than  that  of 

«  Very  few  of  the  stories  are  really  riddles,  but  they  all  give 
the  Princess  an  opportunity  of  displaying  her  ready  judg- 
ment and  acumen.  It  will  also  be  seen  that,  owing  to  the 
device  with  which  the  story  concludes,  there  are  really  only 
nineteen  days,  instead  of  twenty-one. 


The  Creation  of  Woman  29 

beasts.  And  therefore,  O  King,  I  warned  you, 
lest  the  same  thing  should  happen  also  to  you. 

0  be  wise,  and  shun  her,  before  it  is  too  late.     For 

1  think  that  no  lot  can  be  more  wretched  than 
that  of  those  who  are  doomed  to  everlasting  re- 
gret for  having  lost  what  nevertheless  they 
see  ever  before  them,  as  it  were  within  their 
reach. 

Then  King  Suryakd,nta  laughed  aloud,  and  he 
said :  Painter,  your  judgment  is  not  equal  to  your 
skill  in  your  own  art.  For  there  is  a  lot  infinitely 
more  miserable,  and  it  is  that  of  one  who  passes 
his  whole  life  in  regret  for  an  object  which,  with 
daring  and  resolution,  he  might  have  attained. 
Let  me  rather  pine  for  ever  miserable  in  the  con- 
templation of  such  beauty  than  weakly  abandon 
my  chance  of  enjoying  it.  Then  the  King  gave 
that  painter  three  crores  of  gold  pieces,  as  the 
price  of  the  portrait  of  the  Princess,  which  he 
took  away  from  him;  and,  after  allowing  him  to 
paint  his  own  portrait,  dismissed  him.  And  he 
said  to  his  ministers:  Make  all  ready:  for  this 
very  night  I  start  in  quest  of  the  Princess  Anan- 
garagd,.  Then  his  ministers  deliberated  together, 
and  said  to  each  other:  Certainly,  if  the  King 
should  fail  in  his  object  and  never  return,  the 
kingdom  will  be  ruined.  Yet  the  same  will  be 
the  case  if  he  remains  here,   and  scorning  the 


30  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

society  of  all  other  women,  never  has  a  son. 
Therefore  it  is  better  as  it  is.  For  of  two  evils, 
the  lesser  is  a  good.  Moreover,  he  may  possibly 
succeed. 

So  that  very  night,  burning  with  the  fierce  fire 
of  impatience,  the  King  transferred  the  burden  of 
his  government  to  the  shoulders  of  his  ministers, 
and  set  out,  with  the  portrait  of  his  beloved,  to 
win  or  lose  her.  And  he  would  have  taken  nobody 
with  him.  But  as  he  was  preparing  to  depart, 
his  boon  companion,  Rasakosha,^  said  to  him: 
Sire,  would  you  go  alone?  And  the  King  said, 
My  friend,  I  may  fail,  and  never  return.  Why 
should  I  drag  others  with  me  into  the  jaws  of 
destruction?  I  will  go  by  myself.  Then  Rasa- 
kosha  said:  King,  what  are  you  about?  You 
leave  yourself  behind,  if  you  leave  me.  That 
half  of  you  which  inhabits  your  own  body  is 
altogether  gone  upon  2  the  Princess,  and  wholly 
intent  upon  her,  so  as  to  think  of  nothing  else: 
then  how  will  you  baffle  her  without  that  other 
half  of  you  which  lives  in  me,  and  is  always  ready 

>  Pronotmce  Russakdsh.  The  name  refers  to  the  part  he 
will  play  in  the  story:  it  means  both  "a  ball  of  mercviry," 
and  "a  treasury  of  taste,  wit,  literary  sentiments  or  flavours," 
a  sort  of  walking  encyclopedia.  The  King's  companion  is 
a  salient  figure  in  Hindoo  drama:  he  is  a  sort  of  Sancho 
Panza,  minus  the  viilgarity  and  the  humour. 

2  This  colloquialism  is  an  exact  facsimile  of  the  Sanskrit 
expression. 


The  Creation  of  Woman  3 1 

for  your  service?  And  what  am  I  to  do  without 
my  better  half?  And  even  if  you  do  fail,  what 
will  you  do  without  me?  for  even  prosperity 
without  a  friend  is  tasteless  ^ :  how  much  more 
adversity!  Then  the  King  said:  Well,  be  it  so. 
Come,  let  us  be  off.  But  Rasak6sha  said:  Did  I 
not  say  that  your  mind  was  wandering?  Would 
you  start  on  such  a  perilous  adventure  without 
first  securing  the  aid  of  Winayaka?  ^  Who  ever 
succeeded  in  anything  that  neglected  him?  And 
the  King  said :  It  is  true.  In  my  eagerness  I  had 
almost  forgotten  him.  So  he  praised  Ganesha, 
saying:  Hail,  O  thou  lord  of  the  Elephant  Face, 
whose  trunk  is  uplifted  in  the  dance!  Hail  to 
thee,  before  whom  obstacles  melt  away  like  the 
mists  of  night  before  the  morning  sun!  Hail  to 
thee,  aided  by  whom  even  the  weak  triumph  over 
the  strong!  Hail  to  thee,  without  whom  all  prud- 
ence is  vain,  and  all  wisdom,  folly !  Hail,  O  thou 
whose  basket  ears  flap  like  banners  of  victory  in 
the  wind! 

Then  they  set  out  on  their  journey.  And  they 
fared  on  day  and  night  through  the  forest,  as  full 
of  wild  beasts,  apes,  and  Shabaras  ^  as  the  sea  is 
of  jewels :    but  the  King  in  his  preoccupation  for 

«  A  play  upon  his  own  name. 

2  Gan6sha,  the  god  of  obstacles  and  success.     See  Day  One 

»  An  old  name  for  Bhils  and  other  wild  tribes. 


32  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

many  days  neither  spoke  nor  ate  nor  drank,  living 
only  on  air  and  the  portrait  of  the  Princess,  which 
night  and  day  he  devoured  with  his  eyes. 

Then  one  day,  as  they  rested  at  noon  beneath 
the  thick  shade  of  a  Kadamha  ^  tree,  the  King 
gazed  for  a  long  time  at  the  portrait  of  his  mis- 
tress. And  suddenly  he  broke  silence,  and  said, 
Rasakosha,  this  is  a  woman.  Now,  a  woman  is 
the  one  thing  about  which  I  know  nothing.  Tell 
me,  what  is  the  nature  of  women?  Then  Rasa- 
kosha smiled,  and  said:  King,  you  should  cer- 
tainly keep  this  question  to  ask  the  Princess ;  for 
it  is  a  hard  question.  A  very  terrible  creature 
indeed  is  a  woman,  and  one  formed  of  strange 
elements.     Apropos,  I  will  tell  you  a  story :  listen. 

In  the  beginning,  when  Twashtri  ^  came  to  the 
creation  of  woman,  he  found  that  he  had  ex- 
hausted his  materials  in  the  making  of  man,  and 
that  no  solid  elements  were  left.  In  this  dilemma, 
after  profotmd  meditation,  he  did  as  follows :  He 
took  the  rotimdity  of  the  moon,  and  the  curves  of 
creepers,  and  the  clinging  of  tendrils,  and  the 
trembling  of  grass,  and  the  slendemess  of  the 
reed,  and  the  bloom  of  flowers,  and  the  lightness 

»  "A  tree  with  orange-coloured  fragrant  blossoms." 
*  The  Hindoo  Viilcan,  sometimes,  as  here,  tised  for  the 
Creator,  dhatri  =  Plato's  drj^xiovpyoi.      Sanskrit  literature  is 
the  key  to  Plato;  much  of  his  philosophy  is  only  the  moon- 
like  reflection  of  Hindoo  mythology. 


The  Creation  of  Woman  33 

of  leaves,  and  the  tapering  of  the  elephant's 
trunk,  and  the  glances  of  deer,  and  the  clustering 
of  rows  of  bees,^  and  the  joyous  gaiety  of  sun- 
beams, and  the  weeping  of  clouds,  and  the  fickleness 
of  the  winds,  and  the  timidity  of  the  hare,  and 
the  vanity  of  the  peacock,  and  the  softness  of 
the  parrot's  bosom,  and  the  hardness  of  adamant, 
and  the  sweetness  of  honey,  and  the  cruelty  of 
the  tiger,  and  the  warm  glow  of  fire,  and  the  cold- 
ness of  snow,  and  the  chattering  of  jays,  and  the 
cooing  of  the  kdkila,^  and  the  hypocrisy  of  the 
crane,  and  the  fidelity  of  the  chakrawdka;  and 
compounding  all  these  together,  he  made  woman, 
and  gave  her  to  man.  But  after  one  week,  man 
came  to  him,  and  said:  Lord,  this  creature  that 
you  have  given  me  makes  my  Hfe  miserable. 
She  chatters  incessantly,  and  teases  me  beyond 
endurance,  never  leaving  me  alone:  and  she  re- 
quires incessant  attention,  and  takes  all  my  time 
up,  and  cries  about  nothing,  and  is  always  idle; 
and  so  I  have  come  to  give  her  back  again,  as  I 
cannot  live  with  her.  So  Twashtri  said:  Very 
well :  and  he  took  her  back.     Then  after  another 

•  Hindoo  poets  see  a  resemblance  between  rows  of  bees  and 
eye-glances. 

2  The  Indian  cuckoo.     The  crane  is  a  by-word  for  inward 
villainy   and  sanctimonious   exterior.     The  chakrawdka,   or 
Brahmany  drake,  is  fabled  to  pass  the  night  sorrowing  for 
the  absence  of  his  mate  and  she  for  him. 
3  


34  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

week,  man  came  again  to  him,  and  said :  Lord, 
I  find  that  my  life  is  very  lonely  since  I  gave  you 
back  that  creature.  I  remember  how  she  used  to 
dance  and  sing  to  me,  and  look  at  me  out  of  the 
comer  of  her  eye,  and  play  with  me,  and  cling  to 
me;  and  her  laughter  was  music,  and  she  was 
beautiful  to  look  at,  and  soft  to  touch :  so  give 
her  back  to  me  again.  So  Twashtri  said:  Very 
well :  and  gave  her  back  again.  Then  after  only 
three  days,  man  came  back  to  him  again,  and  said : 
Lord,  I  know  not  how  it  is ;  but  after  all,  I  have 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  she  is  more  of  a 
trouble  than  a  pleasure  to  me :  so  please  take  her 
back  again.  But  Twashtri  said:  Out  on  you! 
Be  off !  I  will  have  no  more  of  this.  You  must 
manage  how  you  can.  Then  man  said:  But  I 
cannot  live  with  her.  And  Twashtri  replied: 
Neither  could  you  live  without  her.  And  he 
turned  his  back  on  man,  and  went  on  with  his 
work.  Then  man  said :  What  is  to  be  done  ?  for 
I  cannot  live  either  with  or  without  her.^ 

And  Rasakosha  ceased,  and  looked  at  the 
King.  But  the  King  remained  silent,  gazing  in- 
tently at  the  portrait  of  the  Princess. 

And  thus  travelling  on,  day  by  day,  through 
the  forest,  at  length  they  drew  near  to  the  palace 
of  the  Princess  Anangard,gd. 

>  The  very  echo  of  Martial. 


Ganesha  and  the  Charwaka         35 
DAY  ONE 

THE    STORY    OF    GANESHA    AND    THE    CHARWXkA 

Then,  when  the  towers  of  the  palace  rose  over 
the  trees,  and  gleamed  like  gold  on  their  eyes  in 
the  beams  of  the  morning  sun,  King  Suryakanta 
suddenly  exclaimed:  Ha!  I  am  undone.  And 
Rasakosha  said:  How  is  that?  Then  the  King 
said:  Alas!  I  have  been  absolutely  possessed  by 
the  image  of  my  beloved,  night  and  day,  waking 
and  sleeping,  so  that  I  have  thought  of  nothing 
in  the  world  beside.  And  now  here  we  are  at  the 
end  of  our  journey,  but  at  the  beginning  of  diffi- 
culties. For  as  to  what  I  shall  ask  the  Princess, 
I  have  not  the  shadow  of  an  idea.  And  if  the 
thought  of  her  has  such  power  to  bewilder  me  at 
a  distance,  the  sight  of  her  will  utterly  deprive 
me  of  my  reason,  so  that  I  am  lost  already.  Then 
Rasakosha  said:  O  King,  this  is  exactly  why  the 
Princess  has  hitherto  baffled  all  her  lovers.  The 
spell  of  her  beauty  robs  them  of  their  intellect, 
and  chains  up  their  invention,  and  thus  they  fall 
an  easy  prey.  But  fortunate  are  you,  that  while 
your  best  half  has  been  absent  from  its  body, 
your  other  half  ^  has  been  watching  over  the 
empty  case.     Be  under  no  concern:  but  when  we 

>  I.e.,  Rasak6sha  himself.  The  allusion  is  to  a  power, 
possessed  by  adepts  in  Y6ga,  of  detaching  the  sotd  from  the 
body.     See  Day  Eleven.  ,_ 


36  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

are  introduced  into  the  presence  of  the  Princess, 
tell  her  that  you  speak  by  my  mouth,  and  leave 
all  to  me.  So  the  King  was  relieved,  and  dis- 
missing all  other  subjects  from  his  mind,  he  again 
became  wholly  immersed  in  meditating  on  his 
mistress. 

Then  drawing  nearer  by  degrees,  at  length  they 
entered  the  precincts  of  the  palace.  And  there 
they  were  met  by  warders,  who  enquired  who 
they  were.  And  they  went  and  announced  to 
the  Princess  that  King  Suryakanta  had  arrived 
as  a  suitor  for  her  hand.  So  she  sent  chamber- 
lains and  others,  who  conducted  the  King  to  a 
pleasure-house  of  white  marble  in  a  garden  beauti- 
ful with  a  lake  and  crystal  baths,  shady  with 
trees,  perfumed  with  breezes  laden  with  the 
fragrance  of  flowers,  and  musical  with  the  songs 
of  innumerable  birds.  There  they  passed  the 
day.  But  the  King,  consumed  with  the  fever  of 
his  burning  desire  to  see  the  Princess,  had  neither 
eyes  nor  ears  for  anything  but  the  portrait. 

And  when  the  sun  set.  King  Suryakanta  and 
Rasakosha  went  to  the  palace  of  the  Princess,  and 
entered  the  hall  of  audience,  whose  floor,  inlaid 
with  slabs  of  dark-blue  crystal,  reflected  their 
feet,  and  whose  walls  flashed  back  from  the  facets 
of  their  jewels  the  light  of  innumerable  lamps. 
And  there  they  saw  Anangaraga,   sitting  on  a 


Ganesha  and  the  Charwaka         n 

golden  throne,  clad  in  a  robe  of  sea-green,  and  a 
bodice  studded  with  coral,  looking  like  Lakshmi  ^ 
fresh  from  ocean.  And  her  eyes  were  as  long  as 
a  row  of  bees,  and  their  lashes  jet  black  with 
collyrium,  and  her  lips  were  like  freshly  painted 
vermilion,  and  from  her  high  bosom  came  the 
fragrance  of  sandal.  And  round  her  slender 
waist  was  a  girdle  of  gold,  and  on  her  wrists  and 
ankles  gold  bangles  and  anklets,  and  the  soles  of 
her  little  feet  were  red  with  lac,  and  in  her  black 
hair  was  a  gold  tiara  in  the  form  of  a  snake,  with 
eyes  of  rubies,  and  a  tongue  of  emerald.  And  in 
the  radiance  of  her  beauty  she  looked  scornfully 
at  the  King,  and,  turning  away  her  head,  said, 
without  waiting  to  be  addressed:  Propose  your 
question.  But  the  King,  struck  by  the  thunder- 
bolt of  her  stupefying  loveliness,  sank  mute  and 
trembling  upon  a  couch  opposite  to  her,  and  gazed 
at  her  like  a  bird  fascinated  by  a  serpent.  Then 
Rasakosha  came  forward,  and  prostrated  himself 
at  her  feet,  and  said :  Lady,  this  unworthy  mortal  is 
the  King's  mouth.  Is  it  permitted  him  to  speak? 
So  the  Princess  said :  Proceed.  Then  Rasakosha 
rose  up,  and  stood  before  her,  and  began: 
Lady,  there  lived  formerly,  in  a  certain  coimtry, 


>  The  goddess  of  fortune  and  wealth,  who  was  churned  up 
out  of  the  ocean,  and  according  to  some,  appeared  reclining 
on  an  open  lotus.     Coral  is  one  of  the  nine  gems. 


38G880 


38  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

a  Chdrwaka,  ^  who  was  about  to  be  married.  And 
while  he  was  making  preparations  for  the  cere- 
mony, one  of  his  friends  came  to  him,  and  gave 
him  advice,  saying:  Propitiate  Ganesha,  in  order 
that  nothing  untoward  may  occur  to  interfere 
with  your  marriage.  Then  that  Charwaka  laughed 
in  derision,  and  replied:  My  good  Sir,  you  are  a 
fool.  Do  I  not  know  that  knaves  and  fools  in- 
vented the  Wedas,  and  instituted  the  sacrificial 
rites  for  their  own  advantage?  All  these  foolish 
tales  about  the  gods  are  merely  the  dreams  of 
madmen,  or  the  livelihood  of  rogues.  As  for  this 
Ganesha  that  you  speak  of,  what  is  the  use  of 
him?  Or  how  can  there  be  a  man  with  the  head 
of  an  elephant  ?  And  what  has  he  to  do  with  suc- 
cess? He,  who  forms  his  plans  with  prudence, 
and  executes  them  with  wisdom,  may  count  on 
success.  Out  on  your  Ganesha!  I  will  ensure 
my  own  success. 

So  he  spoke,  but  that  lord  of  the  Elephant  Face 
heard  him,  and  laughed  to  himself,  gently  waving 
his  trunk.  And  the  Chd.rwaka  went  on  with  his 
preparations.  But  when  all  was  ready,  and  the 
lucky  day  fixed,  then  on  the  morning  of  that  day 
Ganapati  spoke  to  a  certain  cow  that  used  to 

^I.  e.,  an  atheist.  The  opinions  of  this  philosophical  school 
may  be  fovind  sketched  in  the  Sarwa-Darshana-Sahgraha, 
§1. 


Gan^sha  and  the  Charwaka         39 

wander  at  will  about  the  streets,  saying:  Cow,  go 
and  drop  your  sacred  excrement  on  that  Char- 
waka's  doorstep.  And  the  cow  went  and  did  so. 
And  when  the  Charwd.ka  came  forth  from  his 
house,  he  put  his  foot  on  the  cow-dung,  and 
slipped  and  fell,  and  broke  his  leg.  So  they  took 
him  up  and  carried  him  in  again.  And  before 
his  leg  was  cured,  his  bride  died. 

Then  his  friend  came  to  him  again,  and  said: 
See  what  comes  of  neglecting  to  worship  Ganapati. 
But  the  Charwaka  answered:  Go  to;  you  are  an 
idiot.  Who  could  possibly  foresee  that  a  miser- 
able cow  would  cast  its  dung  on  my  doorstep? 
What  has  Ganapati  to  do  with  it?  Does  he, 
forsooth!  look  after  and  direct  the  excretions 
of  all  the  cows  in  the  world?  A  pleasant  idea, 
to  be  sure!  So  saying,  he  drove  his  friend 
away,  refusing  to  listen  to  him.  And  when  his 
leg  was  well,  he  found  another  bride,  and  made 
preparations  for  another  marriage.  And  he  hired 
a  band  of  sweepers  to  go  before  him  and  sweep  all 
clean  before  his  feet.  But  when  the  day  came, 
Ganapati  sent  for  a  crow  that  ate  the  daily  offer- 
ings, and  said  to  him :  Crow,  there  is  a  Charwdka 
going  to  be  married  to-day.  Now,  there  is  an 
arch  over  a  certain  street,  beneath  which  he  will 
pass;  and  on  it  there  is  an  image  of  myself,  of 
stone,  which  is  very  old,  and^the  rain  and  heat 


40  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

have  loosened  and  cracked  it,  so  that  it  is  on  the 
point  of  falling.  Do  you  watch,  therefore,  and 
when  you  see  the  Chdrwd.ka  passing  under,  then 
seat  yourself  upon  me,  and  I  will  fall.  So  the 
crow  flew  off,  and  watching  his  opportunity, 
seated  himself  upon  the  stone  image  of  Ganapati ; 
and  it  fell  on  the  Charwaka  as  he  passed  below, 
and  broke  his  arm.  So  they  took  him  up  and 
carried  him  back  to  his  house.  And  before  his 
arm  was  well,  his  bride  died. 

Then  his  friend  came  once  more  to  him  and 
said:  Is  this  your  wisdom?  What  did  I  tell  you? 
Is  it  not  plain  now,  who  it  is  that  is  thwarting 
your  efforts  ?  Then  the  Charwaka  flew  into  a  rage, 
and  said:  Enough  of  your  babbling!  I  will  get 
married  in  spite  of  Ganapati.  But  what  can  be 
anticipated  in  this  miserable  city,  whose  cows  be- 
foul the  streets,  and  whose  buildings  are  tumble- 
down. I  will  provide  against  any  similar  accidents 
happening  again.  So  when  he  was  well,  he  dis- 
covered another  bride,  and  again  made  prepara- 
tions for  his  wedding.  And  he  arranged  to  go  to 
the  bride's  house  by  a  circuitous  route  outside  the 
walls  of  the  city,  avoiding  the  streets  altogether. 
But  on  the  morning  of  the  day,  Ganapati  went  to 
Indra,  and  said:    Wajradhara,*  there  is  a  Char- 

>  "Wielder  of  the  thunderbolt,"  an  epithet  of  Indra,  the 
god  of  rain. 


Ganesha  and  the  Ch^rwaka         41 

waka  going  to  get  married  to-day.  But  he  must 
pass  over  a  certain  water-course,  which  is  now 
dry.  Lend  me  your  rain-clouds,  for  I  must  teach 
this  infidel  a  lesson.  So  Indra  sent  his  clouds, 
and  rained  furiously  on  the  hills.  And  as  the 
Charwaka  was  passing  over  the  water-course,  the 
river  rose  suddenly,  and  swept  down  in  torrents 
from  the  hills  and  carried  him  away  and  drowned 
him. 

And  Ganapati  saw  it  and  smiled.  But  on  a 
sudden  he  wept  violently. 

Now  tell  me.  Princess,  why  did  the  lord  of  ob- 
stacles laugh  and  weep?  And  Rasakosha  ceased. 
Then  the  Princess  answered :  He  laughed  when  he 
thought  of  the  folly,  blindness,  and  insolence  of 
that  miserable  infidel.  But  suddenly  great  pity 
came  over  him,  when  he  remembered  the  terrible 
punishment  that  awaited  that  foolish  fellow  in 
the  future,  and  all  those  who  like  him  prepare  by 
their  own  actions  a  fearful  retribution  in  other 
lives  and  another  world:  and  so  he  wept.^ 

And  when  the  Princess  had  said  this,  she  rose 
up  and  went  out,  dismissing  the  King  without 
looking  at  him,  with  a  wave  of  her  hand :  and  the 
King's  heart  went  with  her.  But  the  King  and 
Rasak6sha  returned  to  their  own  apartments. 

>  Perhaps  only  a  Hindoo  could  appreciate  the  dexterity 
with  which  this  story  is  placed  first,  and  thus  the  favour  of 
Ganapati,  as  it  were,  secured  for  the  rest. 


42  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

DAY  TWO 

THE   STORY   OF   THE    BRAHMAN's   COWS 

Then  the  King  said  to  Rasakosha :  My  friend, 
although  the  Princess  has  answered  your  question, 
and  you  have  lost  me  a  day,  yet  I  forgive  you,  for 
the  sake  of  the  wave  of  her  hand  which  she  made 
as  she  went  away.  Oh!  it  resembled  the  bowing 
of  a  blossom-laden  spray  of  creeper  in  a  breeze. 
But  if  it  were  not  for  the  portrait,  it  would  be 
utterly  impossible  for  me  to  endure  the  torture  of 
separation  from  her  till  to-morrow.  And  he 
passed  the  night  in  a  state  of  intoxication,^  drunk 
with  the  beauty  of  the  Princess,  gazing  incessantly 
at  the  portrait.  And  he  said:  Certainly,  this 
painter  was  master  of  his  art.  This  is  no  picture, 
but  a  mirror.  There  is  the  very  scorn  on  her  lip. 
And  when  at  last  the  sun  rose,  the  King  rose  also, 
and  passed  the  day  with  Rasakosha  in  the  garden, 
onging  for  the  moment  of  reunion.  Then  when 
the  stm  set,  they  went  again  to  the  hall  of  audi- 
ence. And  there  they  saw  the  Princess,  clad  in  a 
red  robe,  with  a  bodice  studded  with  pearls,  and 
her  crown  and  other  ornaments,  sitting  on  her 
throne.  And  the  King  trembled  as  she  looked  at 
him,  and  he  sank  upon  a  couch,  speechless  and 

'  Just  as  the  clothes  of  the  Princess  change  colour  every 
day,  so  does  the  state  of  the  King's  mind,  which  goes  through 
a  regular  series  of  transitory  emotions  {wyabhichdri) . 


The  Brahman's  Cows  43 

fascinated,  gazing  at  her  loveliness.  Then  Rasa- 
kosha  came  forward,  and  standing  before  her, 
began  again: 

Lady,  once  upon  a  time  there  lived,  in  the 
country  of  a  king  called  Dharmasana,^  an  old 
Brahman  who  had  three  sons.  And  he  possessed 
nothing  in  the  world  but  nineteen  cows.  And 
when  he  was  about  to  die,  he  called  his  sons  around 
him,  and  said  to  them:  My  sons,  I  am  in  the 
mouth  of  death,  therefore  listen  attentively  to 
what  I  am  going  to  say.  All  that  I  have  to  give 
you  is  these  cows.  Divide  them  amongst  you; 
and  let  the  eldest  of  you  take  half  of  them ;  and 
the  next,  a  quarter  of  them ;  and  the  youngest,  a 
fifth  part  of  them.  But  if  there  should  be  any 
remainder,  you  must  all  three  of  you  eat  it;  if 
not,  all  the  cows  are  to  be  given  to  the  King,  and 
my  curse  will  rest  upon  you,  for  disobedience  to 
my  last  wishes.  And  having  said  this,  that  old 
Brahman  died.  And  his  sons  performed  his  ob- 
sequies, and  burned  him  in  accordance  with  the 
rites. 

Then  they  assembled  together  for  the  division  of 
the  property.  And  the  eldest  brother  said :  Half 
of  these  cows,  that  is,  nine  cows  and  a  half,  are 
mine.     And  the  next  brother  said:    One  quarter 

'/.  e.,  "seat  of  justice."  The  meaning  is  important,  as  the 
sequel  shows.  It  does  the  Princess  credit  that  she  notes  and 
remembers  it. 


44  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

of  these  cows,  that  is,  four  cows  and  three-fourths 
of  a  cow,  belong  to  me.  Then  the  youngest  said : 
One-fifth  of  these  cows,  that  is,  three  cows  and 
four-fifths  of  a  cow,  are  mine.  Then  the  eldest 
said:  But  the  sum  of  all  these,  added  together, 
amounts  only  to  eighteen  cows  and  a  fraction. 
Thus  there  will  remain  over  a  portion  of  the  last 
cow.  And  in  that  case  we  must  eat  it.  But  how 
is  it  possible  for  Brahmans  to  eat  the  flesh  of  a 
cow?  Or  even,  how  are  we  to  take  various  por- 
tions of  any  cow,  and  leave  it  still  alive?  ^  But 
then,  what  is  to  be  done  ?  For  unless  we  share  in 
our  due  proportions,  all  the  cows  are  to  go  to  the 
King,  and  our  father's  curse  will  fall  upon  us. 
And  yet  what  can  have  been  the  meaning  of  our 
father  in  placing  us  in  so  terrible  a  dilemma? 
Thus  they  disputed  among  themselves,  and  the 
day  passed  away,  but  not  the  difficulty,  and  night 
found  them  still  arguing  without  any  solution  of 
the  matter. 

Now  Princess,  tell  me,  how  is  this  to  be  settled, 
so  as  to  satisfy  equally  the  father,  the  three 
brothers,  and  the  King?  And  Rasakosha  ceased. 
But  the  Princess  bent  down  her  head,  and  re- 
mained a  moment  in  meditation,  while  the  King's 
soul  almost  quitted  his  body.     Then  after  a  while, 

>  To  kill,  let  alone  to  eat,  a  cow,  wotild  be  of  course  one 
of  the  most  deadly  sins  of  which  a  Brahman  could  be  guilty. 


The  Baby  Raja  45 

raising  her  head,  she  replied:  Let  the  brothers 
borrow  another  cow.  Then  of  the  twenty  cows, 
let  the  eldest  take  half,  or  ten  cows;  the  next,  a 
quarter,  or  five  cows;  and  the  youngest,  a  fifth, 
or  four  cows.  Then  let  them  return  the  bor- 
rowed cow.  Thus  the  nineteen  cows  will  be  ex- 
hausted without  leaving  a  remainder,  and  the 
father  satisfied:  each  brother  will  receive  more 
than  under  their  own  division;  and  finally,  the 
King  will  be  pleased.  For  he  was  a  just  King: 
and  what  could  displease  such  a  king  more  than 
that,  in  his  dominions,  Brahmans  should  kill  and 
eat  cows,  or  disregard  their  father's  orders.^ 
Rather  would  he  lose,  not  nineteen  cows,  but  ten 
millions.  2 

And  when  the  Princess  had  said  this,  she  rose  up 
and  went  out,  casting  a  glance,  as  she  went,  at  the 
King,  whose  heart  went  with  her.  But  the  King 
and  Rasakosha  returned  to  their  own  apartments. 

DAY  THREE 

THE    STORY    OF    THE    BABY    rAjA 

Then  the  King  said  to  Rasak6sha:  My  friend, 
though  the  Princess  has  answered  your  question, 

>  See  Manu,  II.,  227,  sqq. 

*  I  remember  to  have  heard  a  very  inferior  version  of  this 
story  from  an  old  Pundit  with  whom  I  read  Mardthi. 


46  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

and  yet  another  day  has  been  lost,  yet  I  forgive 
you,  for  the  sake  of  the  glance  she  gave  me  as  she 
went  away.  Oh!  it  was  cooling  to  my  burning 
soul  as  the  drops  of  rain  to  the  parched  and  thirsty 
earth.  And  but  for  the  portrait,  it  is  certain  that 
my  life  could  not  last  till  the  morning.  Thus  the 
King  lamented,  and  passed  the  night  in  a  state  of 
longing,  gazing  at  the  portrait  of  his  beloved.  And 
when  at  last  the  sun  rose,  he  rose  also,  and  passed 
the  day  with  Rasakosha  in  the  garden,  longing  for 
the  moment  of  reunion.  And  when  the  sun  set, 
they  went  again  to  the  hall  of  audience.  And 
there  they  saw  the  Princess,  clad  in  a  yellow  robe, 
and  a  bodice  studded  with  diamonds,  and  her 
crown  and  other  ornaments,  sitting  on  her  throne. 
And  she  looked  intently  at  the  King,  who  sank 
upon  a  couch,  speechless  and  fascinated,  gazing 
at  her  loveliness.  Then  Rasakosha  came  forward, 
and  stood  before  her,  and  began  again : 

Lady,  in  a  former  age  there  was  a  king  who  died 
of  a  fever.  And  his  heir  was  a  baby,  too  young  to 
speak  or  walk.  Now  that  king  had  a  brother,  who 
desired  the  kingdom  for  himself.  And  in  order 
to  compass  this  object,  he  determined  to  make 
away  with  the  little  Rdjd.,  thinking  to  himself: 
There  will  be  no  difficulty  in  this,  for  he  is  but 
a  baby,  and  can  easily  be  put  to  death  in  a 
thousand  ways. 


The  Baby  Raja  47 

So  one  night  he  persuaded  the  child's  attend- 
ants, by  means  of  an  immense  bribe,  to  leave  him 
alone  in  his  room.  And  he  hired  an  assassin  to 
kill  him,  posting  him  in  a  secret  place  within  the 
palace,  and  telling  him:  At  such  an  hour,  enter 
the  king's  room,  where  you  will  find  him  alone, 
and  kill  him.  But  this  assassin  was  a  Rajpoot 
from  the  Deccan,  who  had  but  just  come  to  that 
city,  and  did  not  know  who  the  king  was.  And 
expecting  a  man,  at  the  appointed  hour  he  en- 
tered the  king's  room,  and  saw  nothing  but  a 
baby  playing  on  the  floor  with  a  fruit.  And  the 
fruit,  escaping  from  its  hands,  rolled  to  the  feet 
of  the  assassin  as  he  came  in.  And  the  little  Rajd, 
put  out  his  hand,  and  cried,  Bhd,  Bh6.  So  the 
assassin  rolled  it  back,  and  the  baby  laughed  and 
clapped  its  hands.  Thus  they  remained,  playing 
with  the  fruit,  till  the  guards  came  in  and  found 
that  assassin.  And  when  they  asked  him  who 
he  was,  he  said :  I  have  a  message  from  my  master 
to  the  king.  Then  they  laughed,  and  said:  The 
king  is  dead:  there  is  the  king.  But  he  was 
amazed,  and  said:  Then  I  must  return  and  tell 
the  news  to  my  master.  For  how  can  I  deliver 
a  message  to  one  who  cannot  even  speak?  And 
they  suffered  him  to  depart,  and  he  went  out,  and 
fearing  for  his  own  life,  left  that  city  without 
delay. 


48  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

Then  the  king's  brother,  finding  that  his  plot 
had  failed,  hired  a  whole  band  of  robbers.  And 
watching  his  opportunity,  he  posted  them  by  the 
side  of  a  road  leading  to  a  temple,  and  said :  There 
will  come  by  this  road  a  baby,  magnificently 
dressed,  and  ornamented  with  jewels,  attended 
by  servants.  Fall  on  them  and  plunder  them, 
and,  if  you  please,  kill  them,  but  make  sure  that 
you  kill  the  baby.  But  while  they  waited,  in  the 
meanwhile  some  other  robbers,  attracted  by  the 
richness  of  the  little  Raja's  ornaments,  set  upon 
his  retinue.  And  killing  all  his  servants  but  one, 
who  fled  naked,  they  stripped  the  little  Rdja  of  all 
he  had  on  him,  but  left  him  alone  alive,  saying, 
He  cannot  tell  any  one,  let  him  live.  So  they 
hastily  departed.  Then  that  fugitive  crept  back, 
and  finding  the  baby  in  the  road,  picked  it  up, 
and  wrapping  it  in  a  cloth,  carried  it  home.  And 
he  passed  before  the  eyes  of  the  gang  that  was 
waiting  to  kill  the  baby  Rajd.,  but  they  thought 
that  he  was  some  beggar,  and  took  no  notice  of 
him.     And  thus  a  second  time  the  child  escaped. 

Then  the  king's  brother  bribed  a  cook,  who  put 
deadly  poison  into  the  little  Rdjd's  milk.  And  it 
was  given  to  him  in  a  crystal  goblet.  And  he  took 
it  in  both  hands,  and  put  it  to  his  mouth,  to 
drink ;  and  at  that  instant,  one  of  the  attendants 
standing  before  him  sneezed.     And  the  little  Rajd 


The  Baby  Raja  49 

dropped  the  goblet,  and  began  to  crow  and  clap 
his  hands  in  delight;  but  the  goblet  fell  to  the 
ground  and  broke  into  a  thousand  pieces,  and  all 
its  contents  were  spilled  upon  the  floor.  Thus 
he  escaped  the  third  time.  And  before  the  king's 
brother  could  form  another  plot,  he  was  himself 
slain  by  the  husband  of  a  woman  of  the  Kshatriya 
caste,  whom  he  had  carried  off  and  dishonoured. 

Now  tell  me,  Princess,  how  was  it  that  the 
schemes  of  that  villain  could  never  succeed  against 
the  little  king,  being  but  a  mere  child  ?  And  Rasa- 
kosha  ceased.  Then  the  Princess  said :  It  was  its 
very  childhood  that  baffled  him.  For  just  as  a 
stone,  lying  openly  on  the  ground,  is  more  seciire 
than  a  costly  jewel,  though  protected  by  adaman- 
tine bars,  because  it  is  worthless  and  arouses  no 
cupidity ;  so  is  a  thing  so  feeble  that  none  would 
attack  it  more  powerfully  protected  by  its  very 
feebleness  than  strength  possessed  of  many 
enemies  though  defended  by  a  thousand  guards. 
No  antidote  so  good  as  the  absence  of  poison; 
no  virtue  so  good  as  the  absence  of  beauty;  no 
fortification  so  good  as  the  absence  of  enemies; 
and  no  guard  so  potent  as  the  helplessness  of  a 
child.  For  where  are  the  enemies  of  the  fragile 
lotus? 

And  when  the  Princess  had  said  this,  she  rose 

up  and  went  out,  looking  back  as  she  went  at  the 
4 


50  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

King,  whose  heart  went  with  her.     But  the  King 
and  Rasakosha  returned  to  their  own  apartments. 


DAY  FOUR 

THE   STORY   OF   BIMBA   AND   PRATIBIMBA 

Then  the  King  said  to  Rasak6sha :  My  friend, 
your  question  was  again  answered  by  the  Princess, 
and  of  my  days  now  three  are  gone,  yet  freely  do 
I  forgive  you,  for  the  sake  of  the  glance  she  gave 
me  as  she  went  away.  Oh!  it  snared  my  soul  as 
it  were  in  a  net.  And  but  for  the  portrait  to  keep 
me  alive  during  the  period  of  separation,  beyond 
question  I  should  never  see  the  light  of  day.  So 
he  passed  the  night  in  a  state  of  lovelorn  recol- 
lection,* an  enemy  to  sleep,  gazing  at  the  portrait. 
And  when  the  stm  rose,  he  rose  also,  and  got  some- 
how or  other  through  the  day,  by  the  help  of 
Rasak6sha  and  the  garden.  Then  when  the  sun 
set,  they  went  again  to  the  hall  of  audience.  And 
there  they  saw  the  Princess,  clad  in  a  sable  robe 
and  a  bodice  studded  with  sapphires,  and  her 
crown  and  other  ornaments,  sitting  on  her  throne. 
And  she  looked  kindly  at  the  King,  who  sank 
trembling  upon  a  couch,  speechless  and  fascin- 
ated, under  the  spell  of  her  beauty.     Then  Rasa- 

>  Smara  means  both  love  and  memory.    . 


Bimba  and  Pratibimba  51 

kosha  came  forward,  and  standing  before  her, 
began  again: 

Lady,  there  lived  formerly  in  a  certain  country 
two  brothers,  Brahmans,  called  Bimba  and  Prati- 
bimba, ^  who  were  twins.  And  I  think  that  the 
Creator,  when  he  made  one,  had  gone  under  water 
to  make  the  other.  For  the  moon  does  not  more 
closely  resemble  her  own  image  in  a  lake,  nor  one 
leaf  on  a  branch  another,  than  each  of  them  did 
the  other.  Between  them,  when  they  were  child- 
ren, the  sole  point  of  distinction  was  the  charm 
tied  for  that  purpose  round  their  necks ;  and  when 
they  grew  up,  those  who  saw  them  together 
imagined  that  their  own  eyes  had  become  ene- 
mies, and  were  each  giving  a  separate  reflection 
of  the  self-same  object.  And  as  their  external 
forms,  so  were  their  voices,  and  their  internal  dis- 
positions :  they  corresponded  in  every  atom,  from 
the  surface  of  the  skin  to  the  inmost  recesses 
of  the  heart. 

Now  one  day  it  happened  that  Bimba  saw  a 
young  woman  2  at  the  spring  festival.  And  she 
looked  at  him  at  the  same  moment.  And  then 
and  there  the  god  of  love  penetrated  their  hearts, 
employing  their  mutual  glances  as  his  weapon. 
So  having  discovered  her  family  and  place  of 

«  Both  words  mean  image,  reflection. 

2  The  hetara  plays  in  old  Hindoo  storiee  a  still  larger  part 
than  she  did  in  the  Greek.      ' 


52  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

residence,  Bimba  used  to  go  and  visit  her  three 
days  in  every  week.  But  in  the  excess  of  his  own 
happiness,  proud  of  the  extraordinary  beauty  of 
his  love,  he  could  not  contain  himself,  nor  endure 
to  keep  the  secret  of  his  own  good  fortune.  So 
he  told  his  brother  the  whole  story;  and  con- 
triving a  suitable  opportunity,  he  exhibited  to 
him  his  mistress,  who  was  all  unconscious  of  what 
he  was  doing.  But  Pratibimba,  being  as  he  was 
but  the  double  of  his  brother,  instantly  conceived 
an  equally  violent  passion  for  her.  And  without 
scruple — for  what  has  love  to  do  with  honour? — 
he  used  to  go  himself,  on  the  other  three  days  of 
the  week,  to  visit  her.  But  she  in  the  meanwhile, 
believing  him  to  be  Bimba  himself,  for  she  could 
not  see  any  difference,  only  rejoiced  in  gaining  as 
she  thought  the  company  of  her  lover  twice  as 
often  as  before. 

But  when  some  time  had  passed  by,  it  fell  out 
that  Bimba,  not  being  able  to  endure  separation, 
went  to  visit  his  mistress  on  one  of  his  brother's 
days.  And  when  he  got  there,  he  saw  Pratibimba, 
who  had  arrived  before  him,  and  was  lying  asleep 
on  a  couch  while  his  beloved  fanned  him  with  a 
palm  leaf.  But  she,  when  she  saw  Bimba  come 
in,  uttered  a  shriek  of  astonishment  and  terror, 
which  woke  Pratibimba.  And  while  she  looked 
in  amazement  from  one  to  the  other,  Bimba  rushed 


Bimba  and  Pratibimba  53 

upon  Pratibimba,  mad  with  jealously  and  howling 
with  rage,  while  Pratibimba  did  the  same  to  him. 
And  grappling  with  one  another,  they  rolled  upon 
the  floor,  fighting  and  kicking  each  other,  till, 
hearing  the  shrieks  of  the  woman,  the  King's 
officers  came  in  and  separated  them,  and  carried 
them  all  three  to  the  judge.  Then  Bimba  said: 
This  man  is  my  brother,  and  he  has  stolen  my 
beloved  from  me.  But  Pratibimba  said :  No,  she 
is  mine :  it  is  you  that  are  the  thief.  Then  Bimba 
howled:  I  was  first,  and  you  are  a  villain.  And 
Pratibimba  echoed  his  words.  ^  So  the  judge  said 
to  the  woman:  Which  of  them  is  your  lover? 
But  she  answered:  Sir,  I  cannot  tell  which  is 
which,  nor  did  I  ever  know  that  there  were  two 
till  to-day. 

So  now  tell  me.  Princess,  how  shall  the  judge  dis- 
tinguish between  them  ?  And  Rasakosha  ceased. 
Then  the  Princess  said:  Let  him  take  all  three 
apart,  and  ask  each  to  describe  in  detail  the 
circumstances  under  which  he  saw  the  woman 
first.  For  though  the  impostor  may  have  heard 
that  it  was  at  the  spring  festival,  yet  the  eye  that 
saw,  aided  by  the  heart  that  remembers,  will  con- 
vict the  ear  that  only  heard. 

And  when  she  had  said  this,  the  Princess  rose  up 
and  went  out,  smiling  at  the  King  over  her 
>  There  is  an  xintranslatable  play  on  the  jvord  here. 


54  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

shoulder,  and  she  drew  away  the  King's  heart 
after  her.  But  the  King  and  Rasak6sha  returned 
to  their  own  apartments. 


DAY  FIVE 

THE   STORY   OF   SUWARNASHIlA 

Then  the  King  said  to  Rasak6sha:  My  friend, 
though  my  mistress  guessed  your  question,  and 
now  four  days  have  gone,  yet  I  forgive  you,  for  the 
sake  of  the  smile  she  gave  me  when  she  went  away. 
Oh!  it  irradiated  the  gloom  of  my  soul  as  the 
moonlight  illuminates  the  forest  glades :  and  when 
she  disappeared,  darkness  again  prevailed.  But 
for  the  portrait,  I  were  a  dead  man  before  morn- 
ing. And  he  passed  the  night  in  a  state  of  im- 
patience, gazing  at  the  portrait.  Then  when  the 
sun  rose,  he  rose  also,  and  passed  the  day  by  the 
help  of  Rasak6sha  and  the  garden  And  when 
the  sun  set,  they  went  again  to  the  hall  of  audience. 
And  there  they  saw  the  Princess,  clad  in  a  pale 
red^  robe,  and  a  bodice  studded  with  emeralds  and 
her  crown  and  ornaments,  sitting  on  her  throne. 
And  she  dropped  her  eyes  when  she  saw  the  King, 
who  sank  with  a  beating  heart  upon  a  couch, 
speechless  and  fascinated,  under  the  spell  of  her 

>  Goura  cannot  mean  white,  because  dhawala  comes  on 
a  later  day. 


The  Suwarnshila  55 

beauty.  Then  Rasak6sha  came  forward  and  stood 
before  her,  and  began  again : 

Lady,  in  former  times  there  was  a  king,  who 
made  war  upon  a  neighbouring  king,  and  went  out 
and  fought  a  great  battle  with  him.  Now  there 
was  in  his  army  a  certain  Kshatriya,  who,  fighting 
all  day  long  in  that  battle,  after  sla3''ing  multitudes 
of  the  enemy  with  his  single  arm,  at  length  grew 
tired  and  faint  from  exhaustion.  And  perceiving 
this,  many  of  the  enemy  set  upon  him  at  once,  and 
overpowered  him,  and,  after  mangling  him  with 
innumerable  woimds,  left  him  for  dead  upon  the 
ground.  But  when  the  moon  rose,  that  Kshat- 
riya recovered  his  senses,  and,  as  it  were,  came 
back  to  life.  And  he  dragged  himself  with  diffi- 
culty as  far  as  a  neighbouring  village.  And  then 
his  strength  failed,  and  sinking  down  exhausted 
at  the  door  of  a  certain  house,  he  struck  one  great 
blow  upon  it,  and  fell  down  senseless. 

Now  there  lived  in  that  house  a  Brahman 
woman,  whose  husband  was  away  from  home. 
And  she  was  beautiful  as  a  jasmine  blossom,  and 
pure  as  snow,  and  her  name  was  Suwamashila/ 
And  hearing  the  knock,  in  the  dead  of  night,  she 
was  frightened;  but  she  looked  out  of  a  small 
round  window,  and  saw  in  the  bright  moonlight 
a  man  lying  still  at  her  door.  Then  she  thought: 
1  See  note  2,  p.  58.   _ 


56  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

This  may  be  a  snare.  Alas!  the  neighbours 
praise  me  for  my  beauty,  and  to  whom  is  not 
beauty  an  object  of  cupidity?  Or  how  can 
beauty,  like  a  great  pearl,  be  safe  when  its 
guardian  is  away?  Then  she  looked  again,  and 
saw  a  dark  stream  trickling  from  the  body  along 
the  white  ground.  And  her  heart  was  filled  with 
compassion,  and  she  thought :  Doubtless  the  man 
is  wounded,  and  perhaps  dying.  The  greater  ^  sin 
would  be,  to  leave  him  to  die  at  my  door.  So  she 
summoned  her  maid,  and  went  out,  and  took  in  the 
wounded  man,  and  dressed  his  wounds  and  nursed 
him,  keeping  him  in  her  house  till  he  was  well. 
Then  that  Kshatriya,  seeing  her  daily,  was 
burned  to  a  cinder  by  the  glory  of  her  beauty, 
and  he  made  evil  proposals  to  her.  But  she 
stopped  her  ears,  and  would  not  listen  to  him, 
but  said:  What!  would  you  repay  benefits  with 
treachery  and  ingratitude?  Know,  that  to  a 
virtuous  woman  her  husband  is  a  god.  Depart, 
and  let  me  alone.  Then  finding  that  he  could  not 
prevail  upon  her,  the  Kshatriya  said  to  her :  It  is 
you,  not  your  husband,  that  is  the  divinity.  Your 
beauty  would  turn  even  a  holy  ascetic  from  his 
penance.  And  though  I  owe  you  my  life,  yet  you 
have  robbed  me  of  it  again.     And  now  I  must 

>  I.e.,  to  take  him  in,  with  her  husband  away,  would  be  bad 
enough,  but,  etc.  A  Hindoo,  even  at  the  present  day,  would 
murder  his  wife  for  a  much  smaller  crime  than  this. 


The  Suwarnshila  57 

depart  quickly,  otherwise  my  passion  will  master 
me,  for  love  is  stronger  than  gratitude.  Then  he 
went  away  hurriedly,  but  with  reluctance,  some- 
where else. 

But  when  the  husband  returned,  a  certain  bar- 
ber's wife,  who  was  jealous  of  Suwamashila  for 
her  beauty,  met  him  and  said:  Happy  are  those 
who  possess  treasures.  In  your  absence  another 
man  has  been  wearing  your  crest-jewel.  So  the 
husband,  burning  with  jealousy,  went  home  and 
asked  his  wife.  And  she  said:  It  is  true,  but 
listen;  and  she  told  him  the  whole  story.  But 
he  would  not  believe  her.  Then  she  extended 
her  hand  to  the  fire,  and  said :  I  appeal  to  the  fire, 
if  I  have  ever  been  faithless  to  you  for  a  moment, 
even  in  a  dream.  And  the  fire  shot  up,  and  a 
bright  flame  licked  the  roof,  and  two  tongues  of 
flame  crept  out  and  kissed  that  saint,  one  on  the 
mouth,  and  the  other  on  the  heart.  But  blinded 
with  jealousy  and  rage,  the  husband  said:  This 
is  a  trick.  And  taking  his  sword,  he  said  to  his 
wife  :  Follow  me.  So  she  said:  As  my  lord 
pleases.  Then  he  led  her  away  into  the  forest, 
and  there  he  tied  her  to  a  tree,  and  cut  off  her 
hands  and  her  feet,  and  her  nose  and  her  breasts, 
and  went  away  and  left  her.  And  after  a  while 
she  died  alone  in  the  forest,  of  cold  and  pain  and 
loss  of  blood. 


58  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

But  that  Kshatriya  heard  of  what  he  had  done. 
And  filled  with  rage  and  despair,  he  went  to  that 
husband,  and  said  to  him :  O  fool,  know,  that  you 
have  murdered  a  saint.  And  but  that  I  know  that 
life  will  henceforth  be  a  punishment  to  you  worse 
than  any  death,  I  would  slay  you  where  you 
stand.  But  as  it  is,  live,  and  may  your  guilt  bring 
you  death  without  a  son.  Then  the  husband, 
learning  the  truth,  and  discovering  the  villainy  of 
that  lying  barber's  wife,  was  filled  with  remorse. 
And  he  abandoned  the  world,  and  went  to  the 
Ganges  to  expiate  his  guilt.  But  the  Kshatriya 
killed  himself  with  his  own  sword. 

So  now  tell  me.  Princess,  why  does  fate  inflict 
such  terrible  punishment  on  the  innocent?  ^  And 
Rasakosha  ceased.  Then  the  Princess  said:  Can 
emancipation  be  attained,  save  by  those  who  are 
worthy  of  it?  And  how  can  gold  ^  be  tested,  save 
by  fire?  And  Suwamashila  stood  the  test,  and 
proved  her  nature :  and  doubtless  she  has  her  re- 
ward. For  even  death  is  not  so  sure  as  the  con- 
sequences of  even  the  minutest  action. 

Then  a  bodiless  voice  ^  fell  from  the  sky,  and 

'  This  appalling  question,  which  has  puzzled  the  wise  men  of 
all  ages,  is  answered  by  the  Princess  as  well  as  by  any  one  else. 

2  An  allusion  to  the  name  Suwamashila,  which  means 
"good  as  gold." 

3  This  is  an  every-day  phenomenon  in  Hindoo  stories ;  and 
its  appearance  in  the  Gold0n  Ass  of  Apuleius  puts  it  beyond 
all  doubt  that  his  story  came  originally  from  India, 


The  Three  Queens  59 

said  aloud:  Well  spoken,  dear  child.  And  the 
Princess  rose  up  and  went  out,  looking  at  the  King 
with  glistening  eyes,  and  the  heart  of  the  King 
went  with  her.  But  the  King  and  Rasakosha 
returned  to  their  own  apartments. 

DAY  SIX 

THE    STORY    OF    THE    THREE    QUEENS 

Then  the  King  said  to  Rasakosha;  My  friend, 
though  your  question  was  again  answered  by  the 
Princess,  and  now  five  days  are  lost,  yet  fully  do 
I  forgive  you,  for  the  sake  of  the  tear  that  glistened 
in  her  eye  as  she  went  away.  O!  it  was  like  a 
drop  of  dew  in  the  blown  flower  of  a  blue  lotus. 
It  is  beyond  a  doubt  that  but  for  the  portrait  my 
life  would  fail  before  the  morning.  And  he  passed 
the  night  in  a  state  of  stupefaction,  gazing  at  the 
portrait  of  his  mistress  Then  when  the  sun  rose, 
he  rose  also,  and  got  through  the  long  hours  of  day 
with  difficulty  by  the  help  of  Rasakosha  and  the 
garden.  And  when  at  length  the  sun  set,  they 
went  again  to  the  hall  of  audience.  And  there 
they  saw  the  Princess,  clad  in  a  blood-red  robe 
and  a  bodice  studded  with  opals,  and  her  crown 
and  other  ornaments,  sitting  on  her  throne.  And 
she  was  looking  for  the  King  when  he  came  in, 
and  the  King  sank  upon  a  couch,  speechless  and 


6o  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

fascinated,  under  the  spell  of  her  beauty.  Then 
Rasakosha  came  forward  and  stood  before  her, 
and  began  again : 

Lady,  there  was  once  a  king  who  had  three 
queens,  of  such  indescribable  beauty,  that  at  night 
in  the  light  fortnight  it  was  impossible  to  decide 
which  of  the  four  was  the  true  moon.  And  one 
night,  when  the  king  was  sleeping  in  the  hot  season 
on  the  terrace  of  his  palace  in  the  company  of  his 
queens,  he  woke  up  while  they  were  asleep.  And 
rising  up,  he  stood  in  the  moonlight  looking  down 
upon  his  sleeping  queens.  And  he  said  to  himself: 
Various  indeed  is  the  form  assumed  by  the  beauty 
of  woman.  But  I  wonder  which  of  my  queens  is 
the  most  beautiful  of  the  three.  So  he  went  from 
one  to  the  other,  considering  them  attentively. 
And  one  queen  lay  on  her  back  in  the  full  light  of 
the  moon,  with  one  arm  over  her  head,  and  one 
breast  raised,  and  every  now  and  then  a  light 
breeze  stirred  and  lifted  her  garment,  disclosing 
it.  And  another  lay  in  the  shadow  of  the  trellis- 
work  with  alternate  stripes  of  shadow  and  light 
turning  her  into  curves  of  ebony  and  ivory.  And 
the  third  lay  all  in  deep  shadow,  save  that  a  single 
streak  of  moonlight  fell  softly  on  the  shell  of  her 
little  ear.  So  the  king  wandered  all  night  from 
one  to  another,  puzzling  over  his  difficulty,  think- 
ing each  queen  to  be  the  most  beautiful  till  he 


The  Three  Queens  6i 

came  to  another.  And  before  he  had  decided  it, 
the  sun  rose. 

Then  when,  after  performing  his  daily  ceremonies, 
he  was  going  to  take  his  seat  on  his  throne,  his 
prime  minister,  named  Nayanetri,^  said  to  him: 

0  king,  why  are  your  royal  eyes  red  with  want  of 
sleep?  So  the  king  said:  Nayanetri,  last  night 
it  came  into  my  head  to  ask  myself,  which  of  my 
three  queens  was  the  most  beautiful.  And  I 
could  not  sleep  for  my  perplexity,  and  even  now 

1  have  not  been  able  to  solve  the  problem.  Then 
Nayanetri  said :  O  king,  be  content  that  you  have 
queens  between  whom  there  is  no  distinction  in 
beauty,  and  no  cause  of  jealousy.  Idle  curiosity 
destroys  peace  of  mind  and  produces  evil.  But 
the  king  said :  I  am  determined,  at  whatever  cost, 
to  settle  this  point. 

So  finding  that  the  king's  heart  was  set  upon 
the  matter,  Nayanetri  said  to  him :  King,  ministers 
are  like  riders :  a  horse  which  they  cannot  restrain 
they  must  at  any  rate  guide,  or  it  will  be  the  worse 
for  both.  Since  it  is  absolutely  necessary  for  you  to 
decide  between  your  queens  in  respect  of  beauty, 
listen  to  me.  There  has  recently  arrived  in  your 
capital  a  dissolute  young  Brahman  called  Kanti- 
graha,2  who  is  famous  in  the  three  worlds  as  a 

•  A  master  of  policy. 

»  Meaning  both  "a  connoisseur,"  and  "a  devourer  of 
beauty,"  with  an  allusion  to  Rdhu,  who  causes  eclipses  by 
devouring  the  moon. 


62  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

judge  of  female  beauty.  Send  for  him,  and  let 
him  see  your  queens,  and  he  will  certainly  tell  you 
which  is  the  most  beautiful.  For  a  swan  cannot 
more  accurately  separate  milk  from  water,  ^  than 
he  can  distinguish  the  shades  of  beauty. 

Accordingly  the  king,  much  pleased,  had  Kanti- 
graha  fetched;  and  as  they  stood  conversing,  he 
caused  his  three  queens  to  pass  in  order  through 
the  room.  And  when  the  first  queen  passed,  the 
Brahman  stood  as  if  rooted  to  the  ground.  And 
when  the  second  passed,  he  trembled  slightly. 
And  when  the  third  passed,  he  changed  colour. 
Then  when  all  had  gone,  the  king  said :  Brahman, 
tell  me,  for  you  are  a  judge,  which  of  those  three  is 
the  most  beautiful?  But  Kd.ntigraha  said  to  him- 
self: If  I  tell  the  king,  I  may  displease  him.,  by 
slighting  his  favourite:  moreover,  the  other  two 
queens  will  certainly  hear  of  it,  and  have  me 
poisoned.  So  he  bowed,  and  said:  King,  I  must 
have  time  to  decide :  give  me  leave  till  to-morrow. 
So  the  king  dismissed  him.  And  Kantigraha 
went  quickly  away,  intending  to  quit  that  city 
before  nightfall,  yet  with  reluctance,  for  he  said 
to  himself:  There  is  one  of  those  queens  I  would 
give  much  to  enjoy. 

But  Nayanetri,  who  could  read  the  heart  from 

>  A  fabled  power  of  swans,  frequeutly  alluded  to  in  Sanskrit 
poetry. 


The  Three  Queens  63 

the  external  signs,  said  to  the  king:  King,  this 
Brahman  means  to  give  you  the  sHp,  for  he  is 
afraid,  and  will  probably  endeavour  to  leave  the 
city  before  night.  But  I  can  tell  you  what  to  do, 
so  as  to  discover  his  opinion.  So  the  king  did  as 
his  minister  told  him.  And  discovering  which  of 
his  queens  was  the  most  beautiful,  he  loved  her 
the  best,  so  that  the  other  two,  being  jealous, 
poisoned  her.  And  the  king,  discovering  it,  put 
them  to  death.  Thus  through  curiosity  he  lost 
all  his  queens,  as  Nayanetri  predicted. 

So  now  tell  me,  Princess,  what  did  the  king  do 
to  discover  the  opinion  of  Kantigraha .?  And 
Rasakosha  ceased.  Then  the  Princess  said:  He 
need  not  have  done  anything :  the  third  queen  was 
the  most  beautiful.  For  the  first  queen's  beauty 
astounded  that  Brahman;  that  of  the  second 
struck  him  with  awe:  but  that  of  the  third 
touched  his  heart.  However,  Nayanetri  wished 
to  make  sure.  And  so,  knowing  the  character  of 
Kantigraha,  he  caused  the  king  to  send  him  false 
letters,  one  from  each  queen,  feigning  love  and 
appointing  a  meeting,  but  all  for  the  same  hour. 
And  he,  being  only  one,  would  go  to  that  queen 
whom  he  judged  most  beautiful,  and  be  caught 
by  the  guards  set  to  watch  by  the  king.  For  the 
actions  of  men  are  a  surer  indication  of  their 
hearts  than  their  words. — 


64  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

And  when  the  Princess  had  spoken,  she  rose  up 
and  went  out,  with  a  look  of  regret  at  the  King, 
whose  heart  went  with  her.  But  the  King  and 
Rasakosha  retiuned  to  their  own  apartments. 

DAY  SEVEN 

THE  STORY  OF  THE  FALSE  ASCETIC  AND  THE  KING's 
DAUGHTER 

Then  the  King  said  to  Rasakosha:  My  friend, 
though  the  Princess  has  again  baffled  you,  and 
now  six  days  are  lost,  yet  I  forgive  you,  for  the 
sake  of  the  opportimity  that  your  story  gave  my 
beloved  of  exhibiting  her  wonderful  intelligence. 
Oh!  she  has  the  soul  of  Brihaspati  in  a  woman's 
body.  But  my  heart  was  racked  by  the  regret 
in  her  glance  as  she  went  away.  And  even  with 
the  portrait,  I  cannot  understand  how  I  shall 
endure  the  period  of  separation.  So  he  passed 
the  night  in  a  state  of  restlessness,  gazing  at  the 
portrait.  And  when  the  stm  rose,  he  rose  also, 
and  managed  to  get  through  the  day,  aided  by 
Rasakosha  and  the  garden.  Then  when  the  sun 
set,  they  went  again  to  the  hall  of  audience.  And 
there  they  saw  the  Princess,  clad  in  a  robe  of 
azure  and  a  bodice  studded  with  crystal,  and  her 
crown  and  other  ornaments,  sitting  on  her  throne. 
And  she  sighed  when  she  saw  the  King,  who  sank 


False  Ascetic  and  King's  Daughter    65 

upon  a  couch,  speechless  and  fascinated,  under 
the  spell  of  her  beauty.  Then  Rasakosha  came 
forward  and  stood  before  her,  and  began  again : 

Lady,^  there  was  in  former  times  a  rogue,  who 
had  lost  his  all  by  gambling  with  other  rogues  like 
himself,  and  who  became  an  ascetic  in  order  to 
make  a  living  by  seeming  piety.  So  he  smeared 
his  body  with  ashes,  and  matted  his  hair  into  a 
knot,  and  put  on  a  yellow  rag  and  a  necklace  of 
bones,  and  a  rosary,  and  went  about  hither  and 
thither  in  the  world  practising  hypocritical  ascetic- 
ism when  anybody  was  looking  at  him,  and  beg- 
ging. And  one  day,  when  he  was  sitting  by  the 
roadside,  the  daughter  of  the  king  of  that  country 
passed  by  on  her  elephant.  And  the  wind  blew 
aside  the  curtain  of  her  howdah,  and  revealed  her 
to  his  eyes.  And  she  struck  him  with  the  fever 
of  fierce  desire,  so  that  he  uttered  an  ejaculation, 
and  exclaimed:  The  fruit  of  my  birth  certainly 
lies  in  obtaining  possession  of  that  beauty.  But 
how  is  it  to  be  done  ? 

So  after  meditating  profoundly  on  the  matter  for 
a  long  time,  he  went  to  a  large  tree  just  outside  the 
king's  palace,  and  himg  himself  up  like  a  bat,^ 

>  Should  any  reader  be  of  opinion  that  I  ought  to  have 
omitted  or  emasculated  this  story,  I  can  only  reply  that  I 
wish  all  Bowdlerisers  no  worse  fate  than  that  of  the  ascetic 
in  the  text. 

'  History  repeats  itself.  M.  Rotisselet,  who  travelled  in 
8 


66  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

head  downwards,  from  a  branch.  And  thus  he 
remained  for  hours,  muttering  to  himself.  And 
this  he  continued  to  do  every  day,  so  that  the  peo- 
ple came  in  crowds  to  see  him.  And  news  was  car- 
ried to  the  king  that  a  great  ascetic  had  come,  and 
was  practising  penance  in  a  tree  in  front  of  his 
palace.  So  the  king,  much  pleased,  and  thinking 
himself  fortimate,  went  to  examine  him,  and  the 
ascetic  blessed  him,  upside  down,  from  the  tree. 
Then  the  king  was  delighted,  and  sent  food  and 
other  offerings  to  the  rogue. 

Then  one  day  it  happened  that  the  king's 
daughter,  whose  name  was  Hasamurti,*  came  by 
on  her  elephant,  and  saw  the  ascetic  hanging 
like  a  bat  in  the  tree.  And  the  sight  tickled  her, 
and  she  laughed  aloud ;  and  the  ascetic  heard  her. 
So  getting  down  from  the  tree,  he  went  to  the 
king.  And  having  effected  an  entrance,  he  said 
to  him :  King,  your  daughter  laughs  at  me,  thus 
disturbing  my  devotions  in  the  tree.  Now  in 
former  times  many  great  sages,  irritated  by 
scorn  or  neglect,  have  cursed  the  offenders,  and 
inflicted  terrible  punishments  on  them.  But  I 
am  long-suffering,  and  will  spare  your  daughter. 
Nevertheless,  I  am  about  to  curse  your  kingdom, 

India  in  the  sixties,  mentions,  in  his  L'Inde  des  Rajas,  a  case 
that  he  saw  in  Rajputdna  of  a  holy  man  who  stispended  him- 
self in  a  tree  "like  a  ham." 
«  I.  e.,  "laughter  incarnate." 


False  Ascetic  and  Kings  Daughter    67 

so  that  no  rain  will  fall  on  it  for  twenty  years. 
Now  the  king  was  a  great  simpleton.  And  when 
he  heard  this,  he  was  dreadfully  alarmed;  and 
he  prayed  so  earnestly  to  the  ascetic  that  the 
rogue,  pretending  to  be  mollified,  said:  Well,  for 
this  time  I  will  abandon  my  design  of  cursing 
your  kingdom.  Only  beware  that  it  does  not 
occur  again.  Then  he  went  back  to  his  tree,  and 
the  king  scolded  his  daughter  in  private. 

But  the  very  next  day  the  king's  daughter 
passed  again  by  the  tree.  And  seeing  the  ascetic 
hanging,  in  spite  of  her  promises  to  her  father,  her 
former  hilarity  returned  upon  her  mind,  and  she 
laughed  louder  and  longer  than  before.  So  the 
ascetic  went  again  to  the  king,  who,  pale  with 
terror,  managed  with  difficulty  and  the  most  ab- 
ject apologies  once  more  to  appease  his  wrath. 
And  he  returned  to  his  tree,  and  the  king  again 
scolded  his  daughter,  who  promised  never  to 
offend  again. 

Then  for  two  days  Hasamurti  went  and  came 
by  another  road,  to  avoid  the  opportunity  of  giv- 
ing offence  to  the  ascetic.  But  on  the  third  day 
she  forgot,  and  once  more  came  past  the  tree,  and 
saw  him  hanging.  And  suddenly,  as  if  inspired  by 
Shiwa  himself,^  she  burst  into  a  peal  of  laughter, 

'  Attahdsa,  "loud  laughter,"  is  a  name  of  Shiwa.  Kalidds 
(in  his  Cloud,  v.  62)  compares  the  snowy  peaks  of  Mount 


68  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

and  she  continued  to  laugh  as  if  she  was  mad 
even  after  she  had  entered  the  palace. 

So  the  ascetic  got  down  from  the  tree,  and  went 
to  the  king.  And  he  said :  O  king,  certainly  your 
kingdom  is  doomed,  and  your  daughter  is  possessed 
by  an  evil  spirit.  For  she  has  laughed  at  me  again, 
even  worse  than  before,  and  cancelled  years  of  my 
reward,  by  disturbing  my  meditations.  Now, 
therefore,  prepare  to  suffer  the  extremities  of  my 
vengeance.  Then  the  king,  at  his  wits'  end,  said: 
Holy  man,  is  there  absolutely  no  remedy?  The 
ascetic  replied :  Am  I  ever  to  be  disturbed  in  my 
devotions?  There  is  none;  your  daughter  is 
clearly  incurable.  But  the  king  said:  Can  no- 
thing be  done  to  cure  her?  Do  you  know  no 
potent  spell  to  conquer  her  malady?  Then  that 
rogue,  inwardly  delighted,  said:  Well,  I  will  do 
this,  out  of  mercy.  I  will  see  your  daughter,  and 
perform  incantations  over  her.  And  if  I  can 
drive  out  the  evil  spirit  of  unseasonable  laughter 
that  possesses  her,  it  is  well :  but  if  not,  nothing 
remains  but  the  curse. 

So  the  king  carried  him  to  his  daughter's  apart- 
ments, and  said  to  his  daughter:  My  daughter, 
your  laughter  incessantly  disturbs  this  holy  man 
at  his  devotions.     And  now  he  has  come,  out  of 

Kailas  to  the  laughter  of  Shiwa  "rolled  into  a  ball."  (Note 
that  laughter  is  always  white  in  Sanskrit  poetry.) 


False  Ascetic  and  King's  Daughter   69 

mercy,  to  exorcise  the  laughing  demon  that  pos- 
sesses you:  otherwise,  my  kingdom,  cursed  by 
him,  will  perish  for  want  of  rain.  Then  the 
ascetic  said:  Let  all  others  depart,  and  leave  me 
in  private  with  the  king's  daughter.  But  the 
king  said  aside  to  the  ascetic:  Sir,  my  daughter 
must  not  be  left  alone  with  any  man.  Then  the 
ascetic  replied:  Fear  nothing  on  my  account:  I 
am  not  a  man :  it  is  many  years  since  I  sacrificed 
my  manhood  ^  to  the  Dweller  in  the  Windhya 
hills. 

But  Hasamiirti  heard  him,  and  she  said  to  her- 
self:  My  father  is  a  fool,  and  doubtless  this  man 
has  some  design  against  my  honour.  He  shall 
find  I  can  do  more  than  laugh.  So  she  said  to  her 
father:  Have  no  fear:  this  is  a  holy  man.  But 
she  secretly  stationed  all  her  maids  in  readiness 
in  the  next  room.  Then  when  the  ascetic  found 
himself  alone  with  the  king's  daughter,  his  evil 
passion  rose  to  such  a  pitch  that  he  could  scarcely 
contain  himself.  Nevertheless  he  drew  a  circle, 
with  trembling  hands,  and  placing  the  king's 
daughter  in  it,  he  muttered  awhile,  and  then  said: 
My  daughter,  you  must  have  the  quarters  of 
heaven  for  your  only  garments,^  or  the  spell  will 

>  Spado  foetus  sum.  The  "dweller"  is  Pdrwati,  or  Durgd, 
Shiwa's  other  half,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  term. 

2  Digambara,  i.e.,  you  must  be  stark-naked,  or  in  a  state 
of  nature.  _ 


JO  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

not  work.  Remove  your  clothes.  But  Hasa- 
miirti  said :  Reverend  Sir,  it  is  impossible.  Then 
he  caught  hold  of  her.  But  she  clapped  her 
hands,  and  her  maids  ran  in  and  seized  him.  And 
she  said:  Examine  this  ascetic,  and  see  whether 
he  is  a  man  or  not.  So  they  did  so,  and  said, 
laughing :  Madam,  he  is  very  much  a  man  indeed. 
Then  Hasamurti  said:  Take  this  knife,  and  de- 
prive him  of  his  manhood.  And  they  did  as  she 
commanded  them. 

Then  Hasamurti  said  to  him:  Now  go,  for  the 
incantation  is  finished.  And,  if  you  please,  com- 
plain to  the  king,  my  father :  I  have  the  evidence 
to  convict  you.  So  the  maids  released  that 
ascetic.  But  he,  as  soon  as  they  let  him  go,  be- 
gan to  laugh,  and  continued  to  laugh  till  he 
reached  the  king.  And  he  said:  O  king,  do  not 
hinder  me:  we  have  successfully  performed  the 
incantation,  and  see,  I  have  caught  the  laughing 
demon,  and  am  carrying  him  away.  And  he 
went  away  laughing,  with  death  in  his  heart. 

So  now  tell  me,  Princess,  why  did  that  ascetic 
laugh?  And  Rasak6sha  ceased.  Then  the  Prin- 
cess, frowning  slightly,  replied :  He  laughed,  in  the 
cowardice  of  his  soul,  with  exultation  at  having 
escaped  from  those  maids  as  from  the  mouth  of 
death ;  counting  the  failure  of  his  scheme  and  the 
loss  of  his  manhood  as  nothing,  in  comparison  with 


The  Pilgrim  and  the  Ganges        71 

the  preservation  of  bare  life.  For  cowards  count 
the  loss  of  life  as  the  greatest  of  evils;  but  the 
great-souled  esteem  it  as  the  least,  and  would 
forfeit  it  a  thousand  times,  rather  than  fail  in  the 
object  at  which  they  aim. 

And  when  she  had  said  this,  the  Princess  looked 
significantly  at  the  King,  and  rose  up  and  went 
out,  and  the  King's  heart  went  with  her.  But 
the  King  and  Rasakosha  returned  to  their  own 
apartments. 

DAY  EIGHT 

THE  STORY  OF  THE  PILGRIM  AND  THE  GANGES 

Then  the  King  said  to  Rasakosha :  My  friend, 
though  my  beloved  has  answered  your  question, 
and  now  seven  of  my  days  are  gone,  yet  I  forgive 
you,  not  only  for  the  sake  of  her  frown — oh!  it 
played  on  her  face  like  a  dark  ripple  over  the 
surface  of  a  lake — but  still  more  for  the  sake  of 
her  words.  For  surely  she  meant  to  encourage 
me  in  my  suit.  Oh!  she  is  a  paragon  of  wisdom, 
and  yet  it  is  just  her  wisdom  that  makes  her  in- 
accessible. Even  the  portrait  scarcely  suffices  to 
keep  my  soul  alive  during  the  long  hours  of 
separation.  Thus  he  passed  the  night  in  a  state 
of  trepidation,  gazing  at  the  portrait.  And  when 
the  sun  rose,  he  rose  also,  and  got  somehow  or 
other  through  the  day  by  the  help  of  Rasakosha 


72  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

and  the  garden.  Then  when  the  sun  set,  they 
went  again  to  the  hall  of  audience.  And  there 
they  saw  the  Princess,  clad  in  a  saffron  robe  and 
a  bodice  studded  with  carbuncles,  and  her  crown 
and  ornaments,  sitting  on  her  throne.  And  she 
smiled  at  the  King  as  he  came  in,  and  he  sank 
upon  a  couch,  speechless  and  fascinated,  under 
the  spell  of  her  beauty.  Then  Rasakosha  came 
forward  and  stood  before  her,  and  began  again : 

Lady,  there  lived  formerly  in  a  certain  country 
a  very  stupid  Brahman  householder,  who  inad- 
vertently committed  a  deadly  sin.  And  his 
spiritual  adviser  told  him,  that  his  guilt  could  be 
cleansed  and  his  sin  atoned  for,  only  by  going  and 
spending  the  remainder  of  his  life  bathing  in  the 
Ganges.  So  he  handed  over  his  goods  to  his  son, 
and  set  out,  with  his  pot  and  staff,  on  his  pilgrim- 
age to  the  Ganges.  And  after  travelling  for  some 
days,  he  came  to  the  bank  of  a  small  mountain 
streamlet,  whose  waters  in  the  hot  season  were  all 
but  dry.  And  he  said  to  himself:  Doubtless  this 
is  the  sacred  Ganges.  So  he  took  up  his  abode 
on  the  banks  of  that  stream,  bathing  every  day 
in  such  water  as  he  could  find.  And  thus  he  re- 
mained for  five  years. 

Then  one  day  there  passed  by  that  way  a  Pashu- 
pata  ^  ascetic.  And  he  said  to  the  Brahman :  My 
>  A  particular  follower  of  Shiwa. 


The  Pilgrim  and  the  Ganges        73 

son,  what  are  you  doing  here?  So  he  replied: 
Reverend  Sir,  I  am  performing  penance,  for  the 
expiation  of  sin,  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges.  Then 
the  ascetic  said:  What  has  this  miserable  puddle 
to  do  with  the  Ganges?  And  the  Brahman  said: 
Is  this,  then,  not  the  Ganges?  And  the  ascetic 
laughed  in  his  face,  an4  said :  Truly,  old  as  I  am, 
I  did  not  think  that  there  had  been  folly  like  this 
in  the  world.  Wretched  man,  who  has  deluded 
you?  The  Ganges  is  hundreds  of  miles  away,  and 
resembles  this  contemptible  brook  no  more  than 
Moimt  Meru  resembles  an  ant-hill. 

Then  the  Brahman  said:  Reverend  Sir,  I  am 
much  obliged  to  you.  And  taking  his  pot  and 
staff,  he  went  forward,  till  at  length  he  came  to  a 
broad  river.  And  he  rejoiced  greatly,  saying:  This 
must  be  the  sacred  Ganges !  So  he  settled  on  its 
bank,  and  remained  there  for  five  years,  bathing 
every  day  in  its  waters.  Then  one  day  there  came 
by  a  K^palika,'  who  said  to  him:  Why  do  you  re- 
main here,  wasting  precious  time  over  a  river  of  no 
account  or  sanctity,  instead  of  going  to  the  Ganges  ? 
But  the  Brahman  was  amazed,  and  said :  And  is 
this,  then,  not  the  Ganges?  Then  the  Kapalika 
replied :  This  the  Ganges !  Is  a  jackal  a  lion,  or 
a  Chandala  ^  a  Brahman?     Sir,  you  are  dreaming. 

>  Another  sect  of  Shiwa  worshippers. 

•  The  lowest  of  all  the  castes,  a  synonym  for  all  that  is  vile 
and  impure,  like  the  "Jew  dog"  of  the  Middle  Ages. 


74  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

Then  the  Brahman  said  sorrowfully:  Worthy 
Kapalika,  I  am  indebted  to  you.  Fortimate  was 
our  meeting.  And  taking  his  pot  and  staff,  he 
went  forward,  till  at  length  he  came  to  the  Ner- 
inada.  And  thinking :  Here,  at  last,  is  the  sacred 
Ganges,  he  was  overjoyed;  and  he  remained  on 
its  banks  for  five  years,  bathing  every  day  in  its 
waters.  But  one  day  he  observed  on  the  bank 
near  him,  a  pilgrim  like  himself,  casting  flowers 
into  the  river,  and  calling  it  by  its  name.  So  he 
went  up  to  him  and  said:  Sir,  what  is  the  name 
of  this  river?  And  the  pilgrim  answered:  Is  it 
possible  that  you  do  not  know  the  holy  Nermada  ? 
Then  the  Brahman  sighed  deeply.  And  he  said: 
Sir,  I  am  enlightened  by  you.  And  he  took  his 
pot  and  staff,  and  went  forward. 

But  he  was  now  very  old  and  feeble.  And  long 
penance  had  weakened  his  frame  and  exhausted 
his  energies.  And  as  he  toiled  on  in  the  heat  of 
the  day  over  the  burning  earth,  the  sun  beat  on  his 
head  like  the  thunderbolt  of  Indra,  and  struck 
him  with  fever.  Still  he  gathered  himself  together 
and  struggled  on,  growing  weaker  and  weaker  day 
by  day,  till  at  last  he  could  go  no  further,  but  fell 
down  and  lay  dying  on  the  groimd.  But  collect- 
ing all  his  remaining  strength,  with  a  last  desper- 
ate effort  he  dragged  himself  up  a  low  hill  in  front 
of  him.     And  lo!   there  before  him  rolled  the 


The  Pilgrim  and  the  Ganges        75 

mighty  stream  of  the  Ganges,  with  coiintless  num- 
bers of  pilgrims  doing  penance  on  its  banks  and 
bathing  in  its  stream.  And  in  his  agony  he  cried 
aloud:  O  Mother  Ganges!  alas!  alas!  I  have  pur- 
sued you  all  my  life,  and  now  I  die  here  helpless 
in  sight  of  you.  So  his  heart  broke,  and  he  never 
reached  its  shore. 

But  when  he  got  to  the  other  world,  Yama  said 
to  Chitragupta  ^ :  What  is  there  down  against  him? 
And  Chitragupta  said:  I  find  against  him  a  ter- 
rible sin.  But  that  he  has  expiated  by  fifteen 
years'  penance  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges.  Then 
that  Brahman  was  amazed,  and  said :  Lord,  you 
are  mistaken.  I  never  reached  the  Ganges.  And 
Yama  smiled. 

Now  tell  me,  Princess,  what  did  Yama  mean  by 
his  smile?  And  Rasakosha  ceased.  Then  the 
Princess  said :  Yama  is  just,  and  cannot  err ;  and 
Chitragupta  cannot  be  deceived.  But  what  is 
this  whole  world  but  illusion!  And  just  as 
penance  performed  in  an  improper  spirit,  even  on 
the  actual  banks  of  the  Ganges,  would  be  no  true 
penance,  so  that  poor  simple  Brahman's  penance, 
performed  in  the  belief  that  he  had  reached  the 
Ganges,  was  counted  by  that  holy  One  as  truly  so 
performed.     For   men   judge    by    the    fallacious 

'  Yama  (pronounce  Yvim)  is  the  judge  of  the  dead,  and 
Chitragupta  his  recorder,  who  keeps  account  of  every  man's 
actions.  


76  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

testimony  of  the  senses,  but  the  gods  judge  by 
the  heart. 

And  when  the  Princess  had  said  this,  she  rose 
up  and  went  out,  smiling  at  the  King,  whose 
heart  went  with  her.  But  the  King  and  Rasakosha 
returned  to  their  own  apartments. 

DAY  NINE 

THE  STORY  OF  THE  REPENTANT  WIFE 

Then  the  King  said  to  Rasakosha:  My  friend, 
the  Princess  is  again  victorious,  and  now  eight 
days  are  lost,  yet  I  cannot  but  forgive  you,  foi^ 
the  sake  of  the  smile  she  gave  me  when  she  went 
nway.  Oh!  it  gleamed  on  my  soul  like  the  daz- 
zling whiteness  of  a  royal  swan  illuminated  by  the 
sun  on  the  Mdnasa  lake.  Alas!  even  the  por- 
trait will  scarce  enable  me  to  live  till  morning. 
And  the  King  passed  the  night  in  a  state  of  be- 
wilderment, gazing  sorrowfully  at  the  portrait. 
Then  when  the  sun  rose,  he  rose  also,  and  got 
through  the  long  day  by  the  help  of  Rasakosha  and 
the  garden.  And  when  the  sun  set,  they  went 
again  to  the  hall  of  audience.  And  there  they 
saw  the  Princess,  clad  in  a  purple  robe,  with  a 
bodice  of  burnished  gold,  and  her  crown  and 
ornaments,  sitting  on  her  throne.  And  she 
looked  at  the  King  with  joy,  and  the  King  sank 


The  Repentant  Wife  ^^ 

upon  a  couch,  speechless  and  fascinated,  under 
the  spell  of  her  beauty.  Then  Rasakosha  came 
forward  and  stood  before  her,  and  began  again : 

Lady,  in  a  certain  city  there  was  a  wealthy 
merchant,  who  possessed  a  very  beautiful  wife; 
and  he  loved  her  more  than  his  own  soul.  But 
she  was  of  light  conduct,  and  walked  in  a  path 
independent  of  her  husband,^  and  looked  after 
other  men,  and  her  virtue  under  temptation  was 
like  a  blade  of  gi'ass  in  a  forest  conflagration. 
And  though  out  of  his  great  love  for  her,  that 
merchant  forgave  her  all  her  faults,  she  only 
despised  him  for  it,  and  disliked  him  the  more. 

And  one  day,  she  looked  out  of  her  window,  and 
saw  in  the  street  a  handsome  young  Rajpoot.  And, 
smitten  with  passion,  she  instantly  left  her  hus- 
band and  her  home,  and  ran  away  with  him.  But 
when  he  found  that  she  had  gone,  that  merchant, 
her  husband,  in  his  despair  almost  abandoned 
the  body.  But  the  hope  that  she  would  one 
day  return  kept  him  alive :  hope  alone  binds  to 
the  world  those  whom  separation  has  made  miser- 
able. Nevertheless,  from  the  day  she  departed, 
all  other  things  became  abominable  in  his  eyes. 
And  neglecting  his  business,  he  sank  into  poverty, 
and  became  an  object  of  contempt  and  derision 

•  An  independent  woman  is  a  synonym  for  a  harlot,  in 
Sanskrit 


78  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

to  his  friends.  And  forsaking  all  occupation  or 
pleasure,  he  remained  alone  in  his  empty  house, 
with  the  image  of  his  runaway  wife  in  his  heart, 
night  and  day.  And  thus  he  lived  for  three 
years,  every  hour  of  which  seemed  to  him  as  long 
as  a  kalpa,  in  the  black  darkness  of  desolation. 

But  she,  in  the  meanwhile,  after  living  with  that 
Rajpoot  for  some  time,  grew  tired  of  him,  and  left 
him  for  another  paramour,  and  him  again  for  an- 
other, flitting  from  one  to  another  like  a  bee  from 
flower  to  flower.  And  it  happened  that  one  night, 
when  she  was  living  with  a  certain  merchant's  son 
he,  in  the  new  ardour  of  his  admiration  for  her 
beauty,  suddenly  stooped  down  to  kiss  her  feet. 
But  not  being  aware  of  his  intention,  she  drew  her 
foot  abruptly  away,  and  it  caught  on  the  jewel  of 
a  ring  in  his  ear,  and  was  torn.  And  even  though 
it  was  cured,  the  scar  remained. 

And  one  day,  when  three  years  had  gone  by,  her 
husband,  the  merchant,  was  sitting  by  himself  in 
his  deserted  house,  gazing  with  the  eye  of  his 
heart  ^  at  the  image  of  his  wife,  when  there  came 
a  knock  at  the  door.  And  as  his  servants  had  all 
long  ago  left  him,  for  he  had  no  money  to  give 
them,  he  went  to  open  it  himself.  And  when  he 
did  so,  he  looked,  and  there  before  him  was  his 
wife.  She  was  worn,  and  old,  and  the  flower  of 
•  Smara  meaiis  "love"  and  also  "memory." 


The  Repentant  Wife  79 

her  beauty  was  gone,  and  she  was  clothed  in  rags 
and  dusty  with  travel,  and  she  looked  at  her  hus- 
band with  eyes  dim  with  tears  and  shame  and 
fear,  as  she  leaned  against  the  doorpost,  faint 
from  hunger  and  thirst  and  fatigue.  But  when 
he  saw  her,  his  heart  stopped,  and  his  hair  stood 
on  end,  and  he  uttered  an  exclamation  of  wonder 
and  joy.  And  taking  her  in  his  arms,  he  carried 
her  in,  and  put  her  on  the  bed  which  she  had 
abandoned  and  disgraced ;  and  fetching  food  and 
water,  with  feet  that  stumbled  from  the  ecstasy 
of  his  joy,  he  washed  the  dust  off  her,  and  dis- 
pelled her  anxiety  and  fear,  and  revived  her  heart, 
and  uttered  no  reproaches,  but  blessed  her  for  her 
return,  with  laughter  and  tears;  and  it  was  as 
though  she  had  never  been  away,  even  in  a  dream. 
And  as  he  was  gently  cherishing  her,  and  sham- 
pooing her  all  over  to  soothe  her  fatigue,  his  eye 
fell  on  the  scar  that  had  remained  on  her  foot 
from  the  wound  caused  by  the  merchant's  son. 
And  putting  his  finger  on  it,  he  said  to  her  with 
a  smile  of  compassion :  Poor  wounded  foot,  it  has 
found  a  resting-place  at  last.  But  she  looked  at 
him  silently,  with  large  eyes,  and  suddenly  she 
laughed,  and  then  and  there  her  heart  broke  and 
she  died.  And  he,  when  he  found  that  she  was 
dead,  fell  down  on  the  floor  at  her  feet,  and 
followed  her. 


8o  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

So  now,  tell  me,  Princess,  why  did  that  woman's 
heart  break?  And  Rasak6sha  ceased.  Then  the 
Princess  said :  It  broke  with  grief.  For  when  she 
saw  that  her  husband  repaid  her  evil  conduct  with 
kindness,  and  remembered  the  occasion  that  had 
caused  the  wound  upon  her  foot,  repentance  came 
suddenly  and  flowed  into  her,  like  a  river  too  great 
for  her  heart  to  hold  it,  and  it  split  and  broke, 
and  she  died. 

And  when  she  had  spoken,  the  Princess  rose  up 
and  went  out  slowly,  looking  regretfully  at  the 
King,  whose  heart  went  with  her.  But  the  King 
and  Rasak6sha  returned  to  their  own  apartments. 

DAY  TEN 

THE   STORY   OF   THE    WRESTLER's   PET 

Then  the  King  said  to  Rasakosha :  My  friend, 
now  nine  days  are  gone,  and  I  begin  to  fear:  and 
certainly,  I  never  will  forgive  you  if  I  lose  my 
darling.  For  she  looks  at  me  now,  not  as  she  used 
to  look,  but  kindly,  as  if  she  also  felt  the  pang  of 
separation.  Now,  therefore,  devise  some  cunning 
question  that  she  cannot  answer,  while  I  endeav- 
our by  means  of  the  portrait  to  keep  my  soul 
from  parting  from  my  body  till  to-morrow.  So 
the  King  passed  the  night  in  a  state  of  doubtful 
perplexity,  gazing  at  the  portrait.     And  when  the 


The  Wrestler's  Pet  8i 

sun  rose,  he  rose  also,  and  got  somehow  through 
the  day,  aided  by  Rasakosha  and  the  garden. 
And  when  the  sun  set,  they  went  again  to  the  hall 
of  audience.  And  there  they  saw  the  Princess, 
clad  in  a  robe  of  dazzling  white,  and  a  bodice 
studded  with  amethysts,  and  her  crown  and  other 
ornaments,  sitting  on  her  throne.  And  she  looked 
at  the  King  and  drew  a  long  breath,  and  the  King 
sank  upon  a  couch,  speechless  and  fascinated, 
under  the  spell  of  her  beauty.  Then  Rasakosha 
came  forward  and  stood  before  her,  and  began 
again: 

Lady,i  there  lived  formerly  in  a  certain  village, 
a  tawny-haired  wrestler,  who  kept  in  his  house  a 
pet.  And  one  day  he  returned  home  and  found 
that  it  had  gone  out.  So  he  ran  out  into  the  street 
to  look  for  it.  And  seeing  a  man  sitting  at  the 
comer  of  the  street,  he  asked  him :  Have  you  seen 
my  pet?  The  man  said:  Had  it  a  string  tied 
round  its  neck?  The  wrestler  said:  Yes.  Then 
the  man  said :  It  went  this  way.  So  the  wrestler 
went  on,  and  enquired  again.  And  one  said:  I 
saw  it  standing  on  two  legs,  endeavouring  to  climb 
that  wall.  Then  another  said:  And  I  saw  it  on 
all  fours  crawling  along  by  the  wall.     And  a  third 

»  The  point  of  this  crafty  little  story  almost  evaporates  in 
translation.  It  is  artfully  contrived  to  entrap  the  Princess 
into  saying  "an  ape,"  but  she  is  too  cunning.  Tawny-haired 
means,  literally,  "ape-coloured." 


82  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

said:  And  I  saw  it,  on  three  legs,  scratching  its 
head  with  the  fourth.  So  going  still  further,  he 
met  a  washerman,  who  told  him :  It  came  this  way 
and  made  faces  at  its  own  face  in  the  water.  And 
going  still  further,  he  met  a  fruit  seller,  who  said : 
I  saw  it  sitting  under  that  tree,  pulling  out  the 
feathers  of  a  bleeding  crow,^  and  I  gave  it  a  hand- 
ful of  monkey  nuts. 

Then  going  on,  he  met  two  men  conversing  to- 
gether, and  he  asked  them.  And  one  said:  I  saw 
it  with  another  of  its  own  species  searching  for 
fleas  in  its  hair.  And  the  other  said :  What  was 
the  colour  of  the  hair?  2  The  wrestler  answered: 
The  same  as  mine.  So  the  other  replied:  It  is 
over  yonder  in  the  tree,  swinging  on  a  branch. 

So  now  tell  me.  Princess,  what  kind  of  creature 
was  that  wrestler's  pet?  And  Rasak6sha  ceased. 
Then  the  Princess  smiled  and  said :  It  was  no  ape, 
but  a  child ;  perhaps  his  own  son. 

And  when  she  had  said  this,  she  rose  up  and 
went  out,  as  if  with  difficulty,  looking  reproach- 
fully at  the  King,  whose  heart  went  with  her. 
But  the  King  and  Rasak6sha  returned  to  their 
own  apartments. 

>  The  pun  is  untranslatable:  it  may  mean  also,  "tossing 
up  its  gory  locks"  (kdkapaksha) . 

*  This  is  the  critical  point.  These  words  may  also  mean : 
What  is  the  caste  of  the  child?  The  wrestler's  answer  fits 
both.  The  searching  for  fleas,  as  applied  to  the  child,  will 
surprise  no  one  who  has  been  in  India. 


The  Domestic  Chaplain  83 

DAY  ELEVEN 

THE    STORY    OF    THE    DOMESTIC    CHAPLAIN 

Then  the  King  said  to  Rasakosha :  My  friend, 
though  the  Princess  is  still  unconquered,  and  ten 
of  my  days  are  gone,  yet  I  would  have  forgiven 
you,  had  you  not  made  this  day's  story  so  short. 
For  no  sooner  had  it  begun  than  it  ended ;  and  now 
not  only  is  my  dehght  cut  short,  but,  like  a  thirsty 
man  who  has  drunk  insufficiently,  I  have  not  had 
enough  to  last  me  till  I  see  my  beloved  again.  At 
least  endeavour  to  lengthen  your  stories,  other- 
wise I  am  wholly  undone.  For  now  must  I  endure 
another  night  of  separation,  by  the  feeble  aid  of 
the  portrait,  which  loses  its  power  daily  by  con- 
trast with  the  original.  Thus  the  King  spent  the 
night  in  a  state  of  fearfulness,  gazing  at  the  por- 
trait. And  when  the  sun  rose,  he  rose  also,  and 
hardly  got  through  the  day  with  the  assistance 
of  Rasakosha  and  the  garden.  Then  when  the 
sun  set,  they  went  again  to  the  hall  of  audience. 
And  there  they  saw  the  Princess,  clad  in  a  robe  of 
emerald  hue,  and  a  bodice  studded  with  moon- 
stones, and  her  crown  and  other  ornaments,  sit- 
ting on  her  throne.  And  she  looked  at  the  King 
affectionately,  and  he  sank  upon  a  couch,  speech- 
less and  fascinated,  under  the  spell  of  her  beauty. 


84  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

Then  Rasakosha  came  forward  and  stood  before 
her  and  began  again : 

Lady,  there  Hved  formerly,  in  a  certain  country, 
a  king.  And  he  had  a  domestic  chaplain,  who 
was  smitten  with  an  evil  passion  for  another  man's 
wife.  And  she  was  a  wicked  woman  and  returned 
his  love.  But  owing  to  the  watchful  jealousy  of 
her  husband,  they  could  find  no  opportunity  for 
private  interviews.  So  at  last,  finding  himself 
unable  to  visit  his  beloved  in  his  own  person, 
that  chaplain  adopted  the  following  scheme.  He 
feigned  great  friendship  for  her  husband,  and  paid 
him  many  attentions.  And  being  an  adept  in 
Yoga,  he  cultivated  his  good-will  by  exhibitions 
of  his  superhuman  power.  And  one  day  he  said 
to  him:  I  know  by  my  art  how  to  enter  other 
people's  bodies,  and  I  can  cause  you  to  do  the 
same,  if  you  have  any  curiosity  about  it.  Then 
that  foolish  husband,  not  perceiving  his  intention, 
eagerly  consented. 

So  the  chaplain  took  him  away  one  night  to  the 
cemetery,  and  there  by  means  of  spells  and  magic 
power  he  caused  both  of  them  to  abandon  the 
body.  But  no  sooner  had  the  husband  quitted 
his  body  than  the  chaplain  entered  it  himself, 
And  without  losing  a  moment,  he  hurried  away, 
rejoicing  in  the  success  of  his  stratagem,  to  the 
house  of  his  beloved  in  the  form  of  her  husband. 


The  Domestic  Chaplain  85 

But  the  husband,  finding  himself  deprived  of  his 
own  body,  exclaimed :  Alas !  I  am  undone.  But 
having  no  other  resource  he  was  obliged  against 
his  will  to  enter  the  body  of  the  chaplain,  which 
lay  empty  near  him.  And  he  returned  home- 
wards slowly  from  the  cemetery,  full  of  grief. 
But  as  chance  would  have  it,  his  mind  being 
wholly  occupied  with  other  reflections,  his  feet  led 
him,  as  it  were  of  their  own  accord,  to  the  house 
of  the  chaplain,  whose  body  he  was  occupying. 

In  the  meantime,  his  wife,  consumed  by  the 
fever  of  desire,  and  unable  any  longer  to  endure 
separation,  seized  the  opportunity  afforded  by 
her  husband's  absence,  and  went  like  an  abhisd- 
rikd,^  to  the  house  of  her  Brahman  lover.  And 
so  it  happened,  that  when  the  chaplain  arrived 
at  her  house,  she  was  not  there.  So  he  remained 
there,  cursing  his  fate,  and  devoured  by  im- 
patience, all  night  long.  But  she  on  her  part 
arrived  at  his  house,  just  before  her  husband,  in 
the  form  of  the  chaplain,  came  there  also.  And 
when  he  went  in,  he  was  astonished  to  see  his  own 
wife.  But  she,  not  recognising  who  he  was,  but 
imagining  him  to  be  her  lover,  ran  towards  him 
and  threw  her  arms  round  his  neck,  exclaiming: 
At  last  I  have  you.     And  that  foolish  husband 

«  A  term,  very  common  in  Sanskrit  poetry,  for  a  woman 
who  goes  of  her  own  accord  to  her  lover. 


86  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

was  so  delighted,  for  for  a  long  time  his  wife  had 
treated  him  coldly,  that  he  forgot  everything  in 
the  joy  of  the  moment,  and  remained  with  her  all 
night,  enjoying  the  company  of  his  own  wife. 

Then  in  the  morning  she  rose  up  early  while 
he  was  still  asleep,  and  went  secretly  back  to  her 
own  house.  And  the  chaplain,  on  his  part,  wearied 
out  with  waiting,  and  in  a  very  bad  humour,  left 
her  house  before  she  arrived,  and  returned  home. 
And  when  he  got  there,  he  saw,  to  his  astonish- 
ment, the  husband  in  his  body,  lying  asleep  on  his 
bed.  So  he  woke  him  and  said  angrily:  What 
are  you  doing  in  my  bed?  Then  the  husband 
replied:  What  do  you  mean  by  running  away 
with  my  body?  The  chaplain  said:  Enough  of 
this :  I  have  suffered  the  tortures  of  hell  in  your 
abominable  body,  and  I  have  a  good  mind  to  bum 
it.  So  the  husband  trembled  for  fear,  and  said 
humbly:  I  had  no  body  but  yours  to  enter,  and 
I  was  cold ;  give  me  back  mine,  and  take  your  own 
as  soon  as  possible.  So  the  chaplain  carried  him 
away  to  the  cemetery,  and  by  his  magic  power 
caused  them  to  quit  their  bodies,  and  each  re- 
entered his  own. 

But  no  sooner  had  the  husband  got  back  into 
his  own  body  than  he  woke  as  it  were  from  a 
dream,  and  remembered  all:  and  he  exclaimed: 
Rogue  of  a  Brahman,  it  was  you  my  wife  em- 


The  Domestic  Chaplain  87 

braced.  But  the  chaplain  repHed:  What  have  I 
had  to  do  with  your  wife  ?  But  mad  with  rage,  the 
husband  laid  hold  of  him,  and  dragged  him  to  the 
king's  officers.  And  he  fetched  his  wife,  and  told 
the  judge  the  whole  story,  and  said :  Punish  these 
wicked  persons :  for  they  have  robbed  me  of  my 
honour.  Then  the  chaplain  said:  I  have  not 
touched  your  wife.  And  she  said:  Of  what  are 
you  complaining?  Was  it  not  yourself  that  I 
embraced?  ^  But  the  judge  was  puzzled,  and  did 
not  know  what  to  say. 

Now,  Princess,  decide  for  him.  And  Rasakosha 
ceased.  Then  the  Princess  said:  The  chaplain 
was  a  rogue,  and  intended  wickedness,  yet  he  was 
not  amenable  to  the  pains  of  law ;  for  though  he 
had  planned,  he  had  not  executed,  his  scheme. 
And  the  woman,  though  she  had  done  wrong,  yet 
did  it  under  the  eye  and  sanction  of  her  own  hus- 
band, who  acquiesced  in  and  approved  of  her  act. 
But  that  husband,  whose  passions  were  so  little 
tinder  control  that  he  could  aid  and  abet  his  wife 
in  soiling  his  own  honour,  well  knowing  what  he 
was  about,  deserves  nothing  but  contempt  and  de- 
rision as  the  author  of  his  own  misfortune.  There- 
fore let  all  three  be  dismissed  unpunished. 

And  when  the  Princess  had  spoken,  she  rose  up 

>  It  is  not  clear  how  she  knew  this,  iinless  she  heard  him 
tell  the  judge. 


88  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

and  went  out,  reluctantly,  and  the  King's  heart 
went  with  her.  But  the  King  and  Rasakosha 
returned  to  their  own  apartments. 


DAY  TWELVE 

THE  STORY  OF  THE  ELEPHANT  AND  THE  ANT 

Then  the  King  said  to  Rasakosha :  My  friend, 
though  I  hear  but  little  of  your  stories,  for  the 
beauty  of  my  beloved  holds  me  spellbound  and 
stops  my  ears,  yet  methinks  her  intelligence  must 
be  more  than  himian,  for  as  yet  even  you  have  not 
succeeded  in  posing  it.  And  now  eleven  of  my 
days  are  gone,  and  only  ten  remain.  Never  will 
I  forgive  you  if  I  lose  her.  For  day  by  day  her 
looks  grow  kinder,  and  the  moment  of  separation 
more  appalling,  and  the  efficacy  of  the  portrait  less 
potent  to  soothe  me  in  her  absence,  so  that  it  is 
doubtful  whether  I  can  live  till  to-morrow.  And 
the  King  passed  the  night  in  a  state  of  sickness, 
gazing  at  the  portrait.  And  when  the  sun  rose,  he 
rose  also,  and  passed  the  day  with  difficulty,  aided 
by  Rasak6sha  and  the  garden.  Then  when  the 
sun  set,  they  went  again  to  the  hall  of  audience. 
And  there  they  saw  the  Princess,  clad  in  a  robe  of 
rose-colour,  and  a  bodice  studded  with  ox-eyes,* 

»  It  is  not  clear  what  gonUda  means. 


The  Elephant  and  the  Ant         89 

and  her  crown  and  other  ornaments,  sitting  on 
her  throne.  And  she  leaned  eagerly  forward  to 
see  the  King  come  in,  and  he  sank  upon  a  couch, 
speechless  and  fascinated,  under  the  spell  of  her 
beauty.  Then  Rasakosha  came  forward  and 
stood  before  her,  and  began  again : 

Lady,  there  was  once  a  lordly  elephant,  the 
leader  of  a  forest  herd.  And  he  rushed  through 
the  forest,  like  a  thunderbolt  of  Indra,  and  the 
rain  of  ichor  poured  down  from  his  mighty  tem- 
ples in  streams,  as  he  broke  down  the  bushes  and 
young  trees  in  his  charge.  And  then,  having 
sported  to  his  heart's  content,  he  marched  slowly 
through  the  glades  like  a  mountain,  with  his  herd 
behind  him.  And  coming  to  an  ant-hill,  he  drove 
his  tusks  into  it,  and  cast  up  the  earth.  And  then 
going  onward,  he  stood  at  rest  in  a  little  pool,  and 
drenched  his  sides  with  clear  water  collected  in  his 
trunk ;  and  running  his  tusks  into  a  bank,  he  stood 
leaning  against  a  lord  of  the  forest,^  swaying 
gently  to  and  fro,  with  his  eyes  shut,  and  his 
basket-ears  cocked,  and  his  trunk  hanging  down. 
And  the  ivory  of  his  tusks  showed  against  his 
great  dark-blue  body  like  a  double  row  of  white 
swans  against  a  thunder-cloud. 

But  meanwhile,  the  ants  were  thrown  into  con- 
fusion by  his  destruction  of  their  hill,  which  killed 
>  7.  e.,  a  tall  tree,     Oiir  idiom  is  the  same. 


90  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

many  thousands  of  them.  And  they  said:  What\ 
are  we  to  die  for  the  wanton  sport  of  this  rogue 
of  an  elephant?  So  they  determined  to  send  a 
deputation  to  the  elephant,  tc  demand  reparation. 
And  they  chose  seven  of  the  wisest  among  them. 
So  the  ambassadors  went  and  crawled  in  a  row  up 
the  bole  of  the  great  tree  against  which  the  king 
of  the  elephants  was  leaning,  till  they  reached  the 
level  of  his  ear.  Then  they  delivered  their  mes- 
sage, saying:  O  king  of  the  elephants,  the  ants 
have  sent  us  to  demand  reparation  from  you  for 
causing  the  death  of  great  numbers  of  their  caste. 
If  not,  there  is  no  resource  but  war.  But  when 
the  elephant  heard  this,  he  looked  sideways  out 
of  the  comer  of  his  eye,  and  saw  the  row  of  ants 
upon  the  trunk  of  the  tree.  And  he  said  to  him- 
self: This  is  a  pleasant  thing.  What  can  these 
contemptible  little  ants  do  to  us  elephants?  And 
taking  water  in  his  trunk,  he  discharged  it  with 
a  blast  against  them,  and  destroyed  them. 

But  when  the  ants  saw  the  destruction  of  their 
ambassadors,  they  were  enraged.  And  waiting 
till  night,  they  crept  out  of  the  ground  in  in- 
numerable myriads  while  the  elephants  were 
asleep,  and  gnawed  the  skin  of  their  toes  and  the 
soles  of  their  feet,  old  and  young.'     Then  when 

1  The  author  probably  knew  that  the  elephant's  feet  are 
very  apt  to  go  wrong  and  c  ause  trouble :  but  whether  ' '  white 


The  Elephant  and  the  Bee  91 

in  the  morning  the  elephants  began  to  move,  they 
found  their  feet  so  sore  as  to  be  almost  useless. 
So  trumpeting  with  rage  and  pain,  they  rushed 
about  the  forest,  destroying  the  ant-hills.  But 
they  could  not  reach  the  ants,  who  crept  into  the 
earth,  while  the  more  they  ran  about,  the  worse 
grew  their  feet.  So  finding  all  their  efforts  use- 
less, they  desisted:  and  fearing  for  the  future, 
they  resolved  to  conclude  peace  with  the  ants. 
But  not  being  able  to  find  any,  they  sent  a  mouse, 
who  went  underground,  and  carried  their  message 
to  the  ants.  But  the  ants  replied :  We  will  make 
no  peace  with  the  elephants,  unless  they  deliver 
up  their  king  to  be  punished  for  slaying  our  am- 
bassadors. So  the  mouse  went  back  to  the  ele- 
phants, and  told  them.  And  seeing  that  there 
was  no  help  for  it,  they  submitted. 

Then  the  king  of  the  elephants  came  alone  into 
the  forest,  with  drooping  ears,  to  deliver  himself 
up  to  the  ants.  And  the  ants  said  to  the  Shami  ^ 
creeper :  Bind  this  evil-doer,  or  we  will  gnaw  your 
roots  and  destroy  you.  So  the  creeper  threw  its 
arms  round  the  elephant,  and  boimd  him  so 
tightly  that  he  could  not  stir.  And  then  the  ants 
crawled  out  in  myriads  and  buried  him  in  earth, 

ants"  or  any  other  ants  could  produce  the  disease  is  a  point 
for  the  natural  historian  to  determine. 

'  Famous  in  poetry  for  its  extraordinary  toughness. 


92  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

till  he  resembled  a  mountain.  And  the  worms 
devoured  his  flesh,  and  nothing  but  his  bones 
and  his  tusks  remained.  So  the  ants  remained 
unmolested  in  the  forest,  and  the  elephants  chose 
another  king. 

So  now  tell  me,  Princess,  what  is  the  moral  ^  of 
this  story?  And  Rasakosha  ceased.  Then  the 
Princess  pondered  awhile  and  said :  Even  united, 
the  weak  are  not  always  stronger  than  the  strong. 
For  an  elephant  is  still  an  elephant,  and  an  ant  but 
an  ant.  But  the  strength  of  the  strong  is  to  be 
estimated  by  their  weakness. ^  For  if  the  ele- 
phants had  known  this,  and  protected  their  feet, 
they  might  have  laughed  at  all  that  the  ants  could 
do  to  them,  and  even  a  single  elephant  would 
have  been  more  than  a  match  for  all  the  ants  in 
the  world. 

And  when  the  Princess  had  said  this,  she  rose  up 
and  went  out  slowly,  looking  sorrowfully  at  the 
King,  whose  heart  went  with  her.  But  the  King 
and  Rasakosha  returned  to  their  own  apartments. 

»  Literally,  what  is  the  error  of  policy  {nitiddsha)  in  the 
story? 

s  7.  ^.,  "a  chain  is  no  stronger  than  its  weakest  link."  The 
Princess's  answer  is  exceedingly  clever:  and  there  are  few 
who  would  not  have  given  the  obvious  answer  which  she 
rejects. 


The  Mirage  Hunter  93 

DAY  THIRTEEN 

THE    STORY    OF    THE    MIRAGE    HUNTER 

Then  the  King  said  to  Rasakosha:  My  friend, 
unless  I  am  blinded  by  love  and  egoism,  the  Prin- 
cess exhibits  signs  of  a  disposition  to  favour  me. 
But  alas!  now  twelve  of  my  days  are  gone,  and 
only  nine  remain.  Oh,  beware!  lest  you  lose  me 
my  beloved.  And  even  the  portrait  now  brings 
me  no  relief,  for  day  by  day  it  grows  less  like  her. 
It  looks  at  me  with  scorn,  but  she  with  tenderness. 
Even  with  it,  I  know  not  how  I  shall  endure  sepa- 
ration till  the  morning.  So  the  King  spent  the 
night  in  a  state  of  lassitude,  gazing  at  the  portrait. 
And  when  the  sun  rose,  he  rose  also,  and  passed 
the  long  hours  of  day  with  the  help  of  Rasakosha 
and  the  garden.  Then  when  the  sun  set,  they 
went  again  to  the  hall  of  audience.  And  there 
they  saw  the  Princess,  clad  in  an  orange-rtawny 
robe,  and  a  bodice  studded  with  rubies,  and  her 
crown  and  other  ornaments,  sitting  on  her  throne. 
And  a  shadow  fled  as  it  were  from  her  face  when 
she  saw  the  King,  and  he  sank  upon  a  couch, 
speechless  and  fascinated,  imder  the  spell  of  her 
beauty.  Then  Rasakosha  came  forward  and 
stood  before  her,  and  began  again : 

Lady,  once  upon  a  time,  the  master  of  a  caravan 
was  crossing  the  great  desert.     And  as  he  went 


94  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

along,  he  suddenly  looked  up,  and  saw  before  him 
in  the  distance  the  walls  of  a  great  city,  with  a 
beautiful  lake  of  heavenly  blue  before  it.  And  he 
was  amazed ;  and  with  a  soul  on  fire  with  longing 
for  the  nectar  of  that  lake  and  that  city,  he  urged 
on  his  camels  in  that  direction.  But  he  could 
not  reach  it ;  and  suddenly  it  disappeared,  and  he 
foimd  himself  alone  in  the  desert,  with  the  sun  and 
the  sand,  and  no  water  and  no  city.  Then  he 
said :  This  is  a  wonderful  thing.  I  would  not  lose 
that  city  for  all  my  wealth.  Then  his  followers 
said  to  him:  Sir,  this  is  a  delusion:  it  is  the 
mirage :  there  is  no  such  city  and  no  water.  But 
he  would  not  believe  them.  And  remaining 
where  he  was  in  the  desert,  he  waited  till  next 
day.  And  at  the  same  hour  he  saw  it  again.  So 
he  mounted  his  swiftest  camel,  and  pursued  it  for 
hours  far  into  the  desert,  but  he  could  not  over- 
take it:  and  as  before,  it  disappeared. 

Then  he  abandoned  his  journey  and  encamped 
in  the  desert.  And  day  after  day  he  gave  chase 
to  that  beautful  city  with  its  water,  but  never  got 
any  nearer  to  it.  But  the  more  he  pursued  it,  the 
more  his  yearning  to  reach  it  grew  upon  him,  so 
that  at  last  he  forgot  everything  else  in  the  world. 

And  meanwhile  his  affairs  went  to  ruin  through 
neglect.  And  hearing  of  his  proceedings  his  rela- 
tions came  to  him  in  the  desert,  and  said :  What  is 


The  Mirage  Hunter  95 

this  that  you  are  doing?  What  madness  has 
smitten  you?  Do  you  not  know  that  this  is  the 
mirage,  and  that  you  are  wasting  your  time  in 
pursuing  phantoms  while  your  wealth  goes  to 
ruin?  But  he  answered:  What  are  words  in 
comparison  with  the  testimony  of  the  eyes?  Do 
I  not  see  the  city  and  its  water  as  I  see  you  your- 
selves? Then  how  can  it  be  a  delusion?  Then 
his  relations  flew  into  a  rage,  and  said :  You  fool, 
it  is  the  mirage.  But  he  said:  If  it  is  nothing, 
then  how  can  I  see  it?  Explain  this  to  me.  But 
they  could  not.  So  they  abused  him  and  laughed 
at  him,  and  went  away,  leaving  him  alone  in  the 
desert.  And  he  remained  there,  spending  his  all 
in  purchasing  camels,  and  every  day  pursuing 
that  city  till  it  disappeared.  And  this  he  con- 
tinued to  do,  till  his  wealth  was  exhausted,  and 
his  camels  died,  and  he  himself  was  lost,  and  he 
died  in  the  desert,  and  the  sun  whitened  his  bones. 
Then  his  story  went  abroad,  and  the  people 
said:  What  difficulty  is  there  in  this?  The  sun 
of  the  desert  made  him  mad.  But  his  relations 
said:  Out  on  this  madman!  he  has  destroyed  us 
with  his  folly.  And  a  certain  ascetic  heard  the 
story:  and  he  laughed  to  himself,  and  said: 
Trashy  trishy  washy  wishy.^  Says  the  pot  to  the 
pipkin :   Out  on  you,  miserable  clay ! 

>  I  have  slightly  modified  the  original  jingle,  which  means: 
The  thirst  for  deliision  is  the  bane  of  the  imiverse. 


96  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

Now  tell  me,  Princess,  what  did  that  ascetic 
mean?  And  Rasakosha  ceased.  Then  the  Prin- 
cess said:  His  relations  blamed  the  madness  of 
that  caravan-leader,  in  that  he  took  mirage  for 
reality,  not  knowing  that  they  were  themselves 
no  less  mad,  in  taking  this  world  and  its  perish- 
able wealth  for  reality,  and  piirsuing,  as  he  did, 
phantoms.  For  what  is  this  world  but  illusion? 
Thus  they  resembled  pots  of  clay  abusing  clay 
pipkins  for  being  made  of  clay. 

And  when  the  Princess  had  spoken  she  rose  up 
and  went  out  slowly,  looking  at  the  King  sadly, 
and  the  King's  heart  went  with  her.  But  the 
King  and  Rasak6sha  returned  to  their  own 
apartments. 

DAY  FOURTEEN 

THE   STORY   OF   THE   RED   LIPS 

Then  the  King  said  to  Rasak6sha:  My  friend, 
this  day  also  is  lost,  and  now  but  eight  days  remain 
behind.  And  each  day  the  moment  of  separation 
becomes  more  terrible,  and  the  period  of  absence 
more  insupportable;  while  the  virtue  of  the  por- 
trait wanes,  like  the  moon,  threatening  to  leave 
my  sotd  in  total  darkness.  And  yet  what  is  a 
single  night  of  separation  to  the  whole  of  my  life, 
if  I  lose  her?    So  the  King  passed  the  night  in 


The  Red  Lips  97 

a  state  of  anxiety,  gazing  at  the  portrait.  Then 
when  the  sun  rose,  he  rose  also,  and  managed  to 
get  through  the  day  with  the  help  of  Rasakosha 
and  the  garden.  And  when  the  sun  set,  they 
went  again  to  the  hall  of  audience.  And  there 
they  saw  the  Princess,  clad  in  a  robe  of  cloth  of 
silver,  and  a  bodice  studded  with  beryls,  and  her 
crown  and  other  ornaments,  sitting  on  her  throne. 
And  her  bosom  heaved  when  she  saw  the  King,  who 
sank  upon  a  couch,  speechless  and  fascinated,  un- 
der the  spell  of  her  beauty.  Then  Rasakosha  came 
forward  and  stood  before  her,  and  began  again : 

Lady,  there  was  in  former  times  a  king,  who  col- 
lected rarities  from  all  quarters,  purchasing  them 
at  no  matter  what  price ;  and  his  palace  was  the 
resort  of  merchants  of  every  land,  who  flowed 
into  it  like  the  rivers  into  the  sea.  And  one  day 
there  came  a  merchant,who  said  to  him :  O  king,  I 
bring  you  a  thing  which  has  not  its  peer  for  rarity 
or  beauty  in  the  three  worlds.  And  I  procured  it 
for  you,  knowing  your  generosity,  at  the  risk  of 
my  life.  Then  he  took  from  a  chest  a  cup,  made 
of  the  tusk  of  an  elephant,  white  as  snow,  but 
round  its  rim  ran  a  blood-red  ring.  And  he  said : 
This  is  the  cup  out  of  which  Bimboshtha,i  the 
daughter   of   the   King   of   Lanka, 2   a   Rdkshasi 

>  /.  e.,  "red  lipped." 

»  Ceylon :  reputed  to  ho.  the  home  of  a  certain  kind  of 
demons  called  Rakshasa. 


98  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

famous  In  the  three  worlds  for  her  incomparable 
beauty,  drank  every  day.  So  exquisitely  is  she 
formed  that  it  seems  as  if  the  separate  perfections 
of  all  other  women  have  been  collected  together 
to  make  her  members.  But  the  apex  and  crest- 
jewel  of  all  her  charms  is  her  mouth.  The  very 
soul  of  vermilion  is  pale  compared  with  her  lips; 
redder  than  blood  themselves,  they  banish  all 
blood  from  the  faces  of  all  who  behold  them, 
pallid  with  passion  at  the  sight  of  them.  And 
whatever  she  touches  with  them  bears  ever  after- 
wards the  stain,  like  the  stain  of  fruit :  and  as  you 
see,  the  edge  of  this  cup  has  been  turned  by  the 
touch  of  her  lips  to  a  colour  which  nothing  in 
creation  can  parallel.  And  I  bribed  her  door- 
keeper to  steal  it  for  an  immense  sum  of  money, 
and  came  away,  fearing  for  my  life ;  and  now  it  is 
a  present  to  your  Majesty.  Then  the  king,  over- 
joyed by  the  singularity  and  extraordinary  beauty 
of  that  cup,  ordered  his  treasurer  to  pay  to  the 
merchant  ten  times  the  amount  he  had  given  the 
doorkeeper,  and  dismissed  him. 

But  it  happened  that  the  king's  son  was  pre- 
sent at  their  conversation,  and  heard  what  the 
merchant  said.  And  an  overpowering  passion  in- 
stantly came  upon  him  for  that  lady  of  the  ruddy 
lips.  And  thinking  of  nothing  else,  he  went  to 
bed  at  night,   and  fell  asleep,   and  dreamed  a 


The  Red  Lips  99 

dream.  He  thought  that  he  mounted  a  horse, 
and  rode  without  ceasing  at  full  gallop,  till  he 
came  to  the  shore  of  the  sea.  And  there  dis- 
mounting in  haste,  he  entered  a  ship,  and  set  sail 
for  Lanka.  And  the  ship  cairied  him  swiftly- 
over  the  sea,  and  on  arriving,  he  leaped  out,  and 
ran  quickly  through  the  streets,  till  he  came  to 
the  palace  of  the  daughter  of  the  Rakshas.  And 
as  he  reached  it,  that  instant  the  sun  set  on  one 
side  of  the  sky,  and  the  moon  rose,  like  another 
sun,  in  the  opposite  quarter,  and  lit  up  with  his  ^ 
radiance  all  the  front  of  the  palace.  And  he 
looked,  and  lo !  there  on  the  terrace  he  saw  before 
him  that  daughter  of  the  Rakshas,  illuminated 
by  the  amorous  moon,  whom  she  rivalled  in 
beauty;  and  on  the  yellow  disc  of  her  face  her 
two  lips  shone  like  two  leaves  of  fire.  And  the 
king's  son,  unable  to  bear  the  lustre  of  their 
beauty,  fell  down  in  a  swoon.  But  in  his  swoon 
he  saw  before  him  those  lips  without  intermission, 
and  they  swelled  up  till  they  became  like  two 
huge  mountains,  and  then,  breaking  into  innu- 
merable pairs  which  filled  the  sky  like  the  stars, 
they  crowded  in  upon  him,  and  he  felt  them 
gently  kissing  him  all  over.  And  on  a  sudden, 
he  saw  the  palace  again  before  him,  and  he  en- 
tered it,  and  saw  the  daughter  of  the  Rakshas 

'  The  moon  is  not  feminine  in  Sanskrit. 


loo  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

at  the  end  of  a  long  hall,  and  he  ran  up  to  her  and 
sank  down  at  her  feet.  But  she,  bending  over 
him,  approached  her  lips  to  his  cheek.  And  as 
they  came  nearer  and  nearer,  they  suddenly  be- 
came a  pair  of  hideous  jaws,  with  lips  thin  and 
green  as  a  blade  of  grass,  and  a  double  row  of 
teeth  white  as  ivory  and  sharp  as  saws,  and  a 
black  pit  between.  And  as  they  loomed  larger 
and  larger  upon  him  out  of  the  darkness,  he 
uttered  a  loud  shriek — and  awoke. 

So  now  tell  me,  Princess,  why  did  that  king's 
son  shriek?  And  Rasakosha  ceased.  Then  the 
Princess  said  with  a  smile :  He  was  afraid  of  being 
bitten. 

And  when  she  had  spoken,  she  rose  up  and  went 
out,  looking  with  longing  eyes  at  the  King,  whose 
heart  went  with  her.  But  the  King  and  Rasa- 
k6sha  returned  to  their  own  apartments. 


DAY  FIFTEEN 

THE  STORY  OF  THE  LOTUS  AND  THE  BEE 

Then  the  King  said  to  Rasak6sha:  My  friend, 
that  merchant  was  a  liar ;  for  no  lips  in  the  world 
could  match  the  beauty  of  those  of  my  beloved. 
Alas!  that  the  sweetness  of  her  smile  should  be 
the  means  of  conveying  such  bitterness  to  my 


The  Lotus  and  the  Bee  loi 

soul,  as  she  answers  your  questions  with  unerring 
dexterity,  and  so  annihilates  my  hopes  each  day. 
And  now  but  seven  days  remain,  and  the  thought 
of  losing  her  is  like  poison  in  the  draught  of  nectar 
which  I  drink  daily  from  her  beauty.  Even  the 
portrait  is  becoming  hateful  to  me,  for  it  mocks 
me  with  its  scorn,  and  assuredly  my  life  will  be 
extinct  before  the  morning.  So  the  King  passed 
the  night  in  a  state  of  wretchedness,  gazing  at  the 
portrait.  And  when  the  sun  rose,  he  rose  also, 
and  got  somehow  through  the  day,  by  the  help 
of  Rasak6sha  and  the  garden.  Then  when  the 
sun  set,  they  went  again  to  the  hall  of  audience. 
And  there  they  saw  the  Princess,  clad  in  a  copper- 
coloured  robe,  and  a  bodice  of  burnished  silver, 
and  her  crown  and  other  ornaments,  sitting  on 
her  throne.  And  her  eyes  sparkled  when  she 
saw  the  King,  who  sank  upon  a  couch,  speechless 
and  fascinated,  under  the  spell  of  her  beauty. 
Then  Rasakosha  came  forward  and  stood  before 
her,  and  began  again : 

Lady,  once  upon  a  time  a  young  and  handsome 
bee,  that  had  till  then  grown  up  at  home  and  been 
fed  by  his  parents,  set  out  for  the  first  time  in  his 
life  on  an  expedition  to  fetch  flower-nectar  for  the 
purpose  of  making  honey.  And  attracted  by  its 
fragrance  he  flew  to  a  red  lotus,  growing  on  a  pool 
in  the  forest,  and  was  about  to  drain  her  of  her 


I02  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

sweetness.  But  the  lotus  closed  her  flower,  and 
would  not  let  him  enter,  saying :  O  bee,  you  come 
here,  after  the  manner  of  your  caste,  insolently 
pushing  into  me,  and  seeking  to  rob  me  of  my 
nectar,  expecting  to  get  all  for  nothing.  Learn 
that  you  must  buy  my  nectar  of  me.  Then  the 
bee  buzzed  and  said:  What  shall  I  give  you  for 
it?  What  is  there  that  you  can  want?  Is  it  not 
enough  for  you  to  blow  and  bloom  on  this  pool, 
scenting  the  air?  Then  the  lotus  said:  There  is 
still  something  wanting.  Out  upon  you,  foolish 
bee!  You,  a  bee,  not  to  know  what  I  want!  Go 
away,  and  find  out,  and  then  come  back  to  me, 
if  you  want  any  of  my  nectar. 

Then  the  bee  buzzed  violently  in  anger,  and  flew 
away  to  find  out  what  the  lotus  wanted.  And  he 
saw  a  beetle  busily  grubbing  in  the  earth  at  the 
foot  of  a  tree.  So  he  said :  O  beetle,  tell  me  what 
the  lotus  wants.  But  the  beetle  answered :  What 
is  a  lotus  to  me?  Go  elsewhere ;  I  have  no  leisure. 
So  the  bee  flew  off  and  saw  a  spider  building  a  web 
in  a  branch.  And  he  asked  him.  And  the  spider 
said :  What  she  wants  is  doubtless  a  fly.  But  the 
bee  thought:  It  cannot  be  a  fly.  This  spider 
judges  others  by  himself.  And  seeing  a  cloud 
floating  in  the  air  above  him,  he  flew  up  and  asked 
it :  0  cloud,  what  does  the  lotus  want?  The  cloud 
said:    Rain-drops.     So   the  bee   flew  back   and 


The  Lotus  and  the  Bee  103 

offered  water  to  the  lotus.  But  she  said:  I  get 
that  from  the  cloud  and  from  the  pool,  not  from 
you.  Try  again.  So  he  flew  away,  and  saw  a 
sunbeam  playing  on  a  blade  of  grass,  and  asked 
it  what  the  lotus  wanted.  The  sunbeam  said: 
Warmth.  So  the  bee  flew  back,  bringing  with  him 
a  fire-fly,  and  tried  to  warm  the  lotus.  But  she 
said:  I  get  warmth  from  the  sun,  not  from  you. 
Try  again.  Then  the  bee  flew  off  again,  and  saw 
an  owl  blinking  in  a  tree;  and  he  buzzed  in  his 
ear  and  roused  him,  and  said :  O  owl,  tell  me  what 
the  lotus  wants.  The  owl  said :  Sleep.  And  the 
bee  flew  back,  and  said  to  the  lotus:  I  will  lull 
you  to  sleep  by  humming  to  you,  and  fanning  you 
with  my  wings.  But  the  lotus  answered:  I  get 
sleep  from  the  night,  not  from  you.     Try  again. 

Then  the  bee  in  despair  flew  away,  crying  aloud : 
What  in  the  world  can  this  niggardly  and  capri- 
cious lotus  want  of  me  ?  And  as  fate  would  have 
it,  his  cry  was  overheard  by  an  old  hermit,  who 
lived  in  the  forest,  and  knew  the  language  of  all 
beasts  and  birds.  And  he  called  to  the  bee,  and 
said:  O  thou  dull-witted  bee,  this  is  what  the 
lotus  wants :  and  he  told  him.  Then  the  bee  was 
delighted,  and  flew  away  to  the  lotus,  and  gave 
her  what  she  wanted.  And  she  opened  her 
flower,  and  he  went  in  and  stole  her  nectar. 

Now  tell  me,  Princess,  what  did  the  bee  give  the 


I04  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

lotus?     And  Rasakosha  ceased.     And  the  Prin- 
cess blushed,  1  and  said:   He  gave  her  a  kiss. 

And  when  she  had  spoken,  she  rose  up  and  went 
out,  without  looking  at  the  King,  and  the  King's 
heart  went  with  her.  But  the  King  and  Rasa- 
kosha returned  to  their  own  apartments. 

DAY  SIXTEEN 

THE    STORY    OF    THE    GEM    IN    THE    SNAKE's    HOOD 

Then  the  King  said  to  Rasak6sha  in  ecstasy 
and  despair:  My  friend,  though  owing  to  the 
answer  of  the  Princess  five  days  only  now  remain 
to  me,  yet  I  would  not  have  had  to-day's  answer 
otherwise  for  all  my  kingdom;  and  freely  do  I 
forgive  you.  Oh!  her  confusion  when  she  spoke 
almost  broke  my  heart  in  twain,  and  if  I  dared,  I 
would  venture  to  think  that  she  does  not  view  me 
with  indifference.  But  alas!  how  am  I  to  sur- 
vive the  period  of  separation  ?  For  all  virtue  has 
gone  out  of  the  portrait,  and  from  snow  to  cool 
my  fever,  it  has  now  become  a  fire  to  increase  it. 
And  the  King  passed  the  night  in  a  state  of  ap- 
prehension,   alternately   gazing   at   and   flinging 

>  This  is  not  a  strict  translation.  Hindoo  ladies,  so  far 
as  my  experience  goes,  do  not  blush:  they  "exhibit  shame." 
But  as  the  emotion  is  clearly  the  same,  I  have  employed  the 
English  equivalent. 


The  Gem  in  the  Snake's  Hood    105 

aside  the  portrait.  And  when  the  sun  rose,  he 
rose  also,  and  hardly  managed  to  get  through  the 
day  with  the  aid  of  Rasakosha  and  the  garden. 
And  when  the  sun  set,  they  went  again  to  the 
hall  of  audience.  And  there  they  saw  the  Prin- 
cess, clad  in  a  robe  of  pearl-grey,  and  a  bodice 
studded  with  agates,  and  her  crown  and  other 
ornaments,  sitting  on  her  throne.  And  she  looked 
shyly  at  the  King,  who  sank  upon  a  couch,  speech- 
less and  fascinated,  under  the  spell  of  her  beauty. 
Then  Rasakosha  came  forward  and  stood  before 
her,  and  began  again : 

Lady,  outside  the  wall  of  a  certain  city  there  was 
an  old  sacred  banian  tree.  And  in  its  hollow  root 
there  lived  a  black  cobra.  And  every  day  it  used 
to  come  out  and  lie  in  the  sun  before  the  tree, 
coiled  round  upon  itself,  and  the  people  brought 
it  offerings  of  milk  and  sweetmeats. 

Now  in  that  city  there  lived  a  very  rich  jewel 
merchant,  who  had  a  very  beautiful  daughter. 
And  she  was  very  fond  of  gems  and  precious 
stones,  of  which  she  possessed  a  very  great  number. 
But  there  was  one  which  she  had  not  got,  and  that 
was  the  jewel  in  the  head  of  a  snake.  And  this 
she  desired  so  much  that  she  thought  all  her  other 
jewels  of  no  account  in  comparison  with  it.  And 
she  heard  of  the  sacred  cobra,  and  being  filled 
with  cupidity,   she  hired  a  man ,  of  the  D6mba 


io6  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

caste  to  go  by  night  and  kill  it,  and  bring  her  the 
gem  in  its  hood.  And  when  she  had  obtained  it, 
she  considered  that  she  had  obtained  the  fruit  of 
her  birth,  and  she  valued  it  above  all  her  other 
jewels,  and  wore  it  incessantly  as  a  crest-jewel 
in  her  hair. 

But  Wdsuki  ^  heard  of  the  slaughter  of  his  sub- 
ject, and  he  was  wroth,  and  determined  to  punish 
the  criminal.  So  he  assumed  the  form  of  a  man, 
and  went  to  that  city.  And  he  made  enquiries, 
till  at  length  he  discovered  that  a  certain  mer- 
chant's daughter  possessed  the  hood-gem  of  a 
snake.  Then  the  lord  of  snakes  assumed  the 
form  of  a  young  and  handsome  jewel  merchant. 
And  he  hired  a  house,  close  to  that  of  the  jewel 
merchant,  and  giving  out  that  he  was  travelling 
on  business,  he  lived  magnificently,  and  gave 
feasts  and  banquets  to  all  whom  he  met.  And 
becoming  acquainted  with  that  jewel  merchant, 
he  charmed  him  by  his  wealth  and  accomplish- 
ments, and  gave  him  many  rare  and  inestimable 
jewels.  And  finally,  he  asked  him  for  the  hand 
of  his  daughter  in  marriage.  And  the  merchant 
joyfully  consented,  thinking  that  nowhere  in  the 
world  could  he  find  such  another  son-in-law. 
And  when  he  told  his  daughter,  she  was  beside 
herself  with  delight,  for  she  had  seen  that  young 

»  The  king  of  the  snakes. 


The  Gem  in  the  Snake's  Hood    107 

merchant  from  a  window,  and  heard  of  his  great 
wealth  and  accomplishments;  and  she  thought 
she  was  going  to  get,  as  it  were,  the  very  ocean 
itself  for  a  husband.  ^ 

Then  an  auspicious  day  was  chosen,  and  the 
preparations  for  the  wedding  went  on :  and  every 
day  the  lord  of  snakes  sent  baskets  of  jewels  to 
his  bride,  whose  senses  almost  left  her  in  her  joy. 
And  at  last  the  day  came,  and  the  nuptial  cere- 
mony was  over,  and  the  bridegroom  went  with 
his  bride  into  the  nuptial  chamber.  And  he 
lifted  her  on  to  the  marriage  bed,  and  called  her 
by  her  name.  And  as  she  turned  towards  him, 
he  approached  her  slowly,  with  a  smile  on  his 
face.  And  she  looked  and  saw,  issuing  from 
his  mouth  and  disappearing  alternately,  a  long 
tongue,  thin,  forked,  and  quivering  like  that  of  a 
snake. 

And  in  the  morning  the  musicians  played  to 
waken  the  bride  and  bridegroom.  But  the  day 
went  on,  and  they  never  came  forth.  Then  the 
merchant,  her  father,  and  his  friends,  after 
waiting  a  long  time,  became  alarmed,  and  went 
and  broke  the  door,  which  was  closed  with  a  lock. 
And  there  they  saw  the  bride  lying  dead  in  the 
bed,   alone,   and  on  her  bosom  were  two  small 

>  I.e.,  "the  mine,  or  receptacle  of  jewek,"  a  common  app)el- 
lation  of  the  sea. 


io8  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

marks.  And  they  saw  no  bridegroom.  But  a 
black  cobra  crept  out  of  the  bed,  and  disappeared 
through  a  hole  in  the  wall.^ 

So  now,  Princess,  tell  me,  what  was  there  in 
the  snake's  hood-jewel  to  make  that  merchant's 
daughter  so  desirous  of  it?  And  Rasakosha 
ceased.  Then  the  Princess  said:  The  attraction 
lay  not  in  the  jewel  itself,  nor  in  its  magic  proper- 
ties, but  in  this:  that  she  had  not  got  it.  For 
this  is  the  natiire  of  women,  that  they  make  light 
of  what  they  have,  and  sigh  for  what  they  have 
not. 

And  when  the  Princess  had  spoken,  she  rose  up 
and  went  out,  looking  at  the  King  with  a  deep 
sigh,  and  the  King's  heart  went  with  her.  But 
the  King  and  Rasakosha  returned  to  their  own 
apartments. 

DAY  SEVENTEEN 

THE    STORY    OF    THE    KING's    DREAM 

Then  the  King  said  to  Rasakosha:  My  friend, 
all  doubt  is  over:  my  doom  is  sealed:  for  the 
intellect  of  the  Princess  is  invincible.     And  yet, 

»  The  denouement  of  this  story  has  a  most  singular  resem- 
blance to  that  of  Prosper  M^rim^e's  Lokis.  But  apparently 
he  drew  that  admirable  story  (as  he  did  his  Carmen  and  his 
Venus)  from  older  sources,  of  Lithuanian,  Gipsy,  possibly 
even  Hindoo  origin. 


The  King's  Dream  109 

unless  my  desire  blinds  me,  she  intended  that  sigh 
to  point  at  me  the  significance  of  her  words.  Oh! 
the  fear  of  losing  her  almost  deprives  me  of  my 
reason,  and  breaking  loose  like  a  must  elephant 
from  every  restraint  I  shall  destroy  you,  as  he 
does  his  friend  the  mahout,  by  the  most  terrible 
of  deaths.  And  yet  my  own  lot  will  be  worse  than 
any  death ;  for  I  shall  die  by  inches,  starving  in 
the  sight  of  food.  Out  upon  the  portrait  that  has 
brought  me  to  ruin,  and  on  the  painter  that 
painted  it!  For  now  I  see  clearly  that  it  is  not 
in  the  least  like  her;  for  she  is  kind,  and  only 
compelled  by  destiny  in  the  form  of  her  own 
intellect  to  ruin  hopes  that  she  would  perhaps 
otherwise  encourage.  So  the  King  passed  the 
night  in  a  state  of  exhaustion,  averting  with  effort 
his  gaze  from  the  portrait.  And  when  the  sun 
rose,  he  rose  also,  and  passed  the  day  with  diffi- 
culty in  the  garden,  aided  by  Rasak6sha.  Then 
when  the  sun  set,  they  went  again  to  the  hall  of 
audience.  And  there  they  saw  the  Princess,  clad 
in  a  robe  of  russet  ^  and  a  bodice  studded  with 
amber, 2  and  her  crown  and  other  ornaments, 
sitting  on  her  throne.  And  she  looked  at  the 
King  with  eyes  whose  lids  were  red  with  want  of 
sleep,  and  he  sank  upon  a  couch,  speechless  and 

•  Kapisha. 

2  Trinamani,  a  gem  that  attracts  grass,  _ 


no  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

fascinated,  under  the  spell  of  her  beauty.  Then 
Rasakosha  came  forward  and  stood  before  her, 
and  began  again : 

Lady,^  there  was  once  a  king,  who  laughed  at 
his  kingly  duties,  and  passed  his  time  in  evil 
courses,  lying  in  bed,  neglecting  Brahmans,  drink- 
ing wine,  hunting,  and  idling  in  the  society  of  fair 
women.  And  whosoever  ventured  to  remonstrate 
with  him,  him  he  straightway  banished  from  his 
kingdom.  And  as  time  went  on,  he  grew  worse 
and  worse,  for  dissatisfaction  and  satiety  came 
over  him,  and  the  only  refuge  open  to  him  from 
their  torture  lay  in  drowning  reflection  by  still 
more  abominable  orgies. 

Then  it  happened  that  one  day  he  went  a-hunt- 
ing.  And  the  ardour  of  the  chase  drew  him  far 
out  of  his  way,  so  that  when  the  sun  fell,  he 
was  deep  in  the  forest,  far  from  his  palace.  And 
while  he  was  considering  where  he  should  pass 
the  night,  he  came  upon  the  hut  of  an  aged  her- 
mit. So  leaving  his  followers  in  the  forest,  he 
remained  in  the  hut  of  that  hospitable  hermit  for 
the  night.  And  after  miaking  his  supper  on  roots 
and  fruits,  he  lay  down  to  sleep  on  a  bed  of  leaves 
and  Kusha  grass. 

And  in  his  sleep  he  had  a  vision.     He  thought 

'  This  story  is  only  the  embodiment  of  an  idea  familar  to 
every  Hindoo,  but  in  the  original  it  is  very  pithily  told. 


The  King's  Dream  in 


he  found  himself  on  the  bank  of  a  great  river,  lit 
up  by  the  sun  where  he  stood,  but  emerging  from 
black  darkness,  and  running  into  it  again  in  a 
circle.  And  he  held  in  his  hand  a  seed.  And 
digging  a  hole,  he  planted  that  seed,  and  watered 
it  from  the  river,  and  it  became  a  shoot,  and  grew 
rapidly  into  a  tall  tree.  And  the  tree  put  forth 
leaves,  and  blossoms,  and  at  last  a  single  fruit. 
And  the  fruit  grew  larger  and  larger,  till  it  was 
as  big  as  a  gourd;  and  it  became  green  as  an 
emerald,  and  then  red  as  a  ruby,  and  shone  in  the 
sim ;  and  its  weight  caused  it  to  sink  down  within 
reach  of  his  hand.  So  he  put  out  his  hand,  and 
plucked,  and  ate  it. 

And  in  an  instant  he  saw  a  colossal  hand 
stretched  out  of  the  darkness,  and  it  grasped  him 
and  whisked  him  away,  and  suspended  him  over 
an  abyss  by  a  slender  string.  And  looking  down, 
he  gazed  into  unfathomable  depths;  and  looking 
up,  he  saw  a  vulture  pecking  at  the  string  with  its 
beak ;  and  an  icy  chill  froze  his  heart,  while  burn- 
ing fire  tortured  his  extremities,  and  black  dark- 
ness enveloped  him;  and  it  seemed  to  him  that 
infinite  ages  passed  in  each  instant  of  ineffable 
agony.  Then  on  a  sudden  he  awoke  with  a  cr>', 
and  saw  only  that  old  hermit  standing  in  the 
moonhght  that  fell  through  the  roof,  meditating, 
and  muttering  to  himself. 


112  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

Then  he  lay  down  again  on  the  bed,  and  slept 
and  dreamed  again.  And  again  it  seemed  to  him 
that  he  planted  a  seed,  and  watered  it  on  the  bank 
of  that  river ;  and  again  it  became  a  tree,  and  put 
out  leaves  and  blossoms  and  a  fruit,  which  as  be- 
fore grew  green  and  red,  and  sank  down  into  his 
hand.  And  he  plucked  and  ate  it  again.  And  in 
an  instant,  a  feeling  of  inexpressible  bliss  flowed 
in  upon  his  soul,  and  he  sank  into  a  deep  sleep, 
and  lay  as  if  he  were  dead,  till  that  old  hemiit 
roused  him  in  the  morning  with  the  sun  streaming 
in  through  the  door  of  the  hut. 

Then  that  king  went  home  and  changed  his 
ways. 

So  now  tell  me.  Princess,  why?  And  Rasa- 
k6sha  ceased.  Then  the  Princess  said:  He  was 
afraid.  For  the  tree  was  the  tree  of  his  own  evil 
actions,  and  the  eating  of  its  fruit  the  ripening  of 
their  consequences,  dooming  him  to  a  pim.ish- 
ment  of  which  the  agony  he  endured  in  his  dream 
was  but  a  faint  shadow.  But  had  he  lived  other- 
wise, and  accumulated  virtue  rather  than  vice, 
he  would  have  obtained  ultimately  the  bliss  of 
emancipation,  resembling  the  deep  sleep  which  ^ 
came  upon  him  and  obliterated  his  individuality, 
the  second  time  he  slept. 

And  when  the  Princess  had  spoken,  she  turned 
and  looked  at  the  King  with  tears  in  her  eyes,  and 


Love  and  Death  113 

rose  up  and  went  out,  and  the  King's  heart  went 
with  her.  But  the  King  and  Rasakosha  returned 
to  their  own  apartments. 

DAY  EIGHTEEN 

THE    STORY    OF    LOVE    AND    DEATH 

Then  the  King  said  to  Rasakosha:  My  friend, 
now  in  very  truth  am  I  eating  the  fruit  of  my  own 
crimes  in  a  former  birth,  since  four  days  only  re- 
main ;  and  well  did  you  say  that  I  am  suspended 
by  the  heels  over  an  unfathomable  abyss,  with  ice 
at  my  heart.  For  only  too  well  do  I  see  that  the 
Princess  will  stand  the  test,  seeing  that  the  sharp 
arrows  of  your  cimning  questions  rebound  from 
her  as  if,  instead  of  a  jewelled  bodice,  she  were  clad 
in  a  coat  of  mail.  And  the  nectar  of  the  portrait 
has  become  a  poison,  which  will  certainly  put  an 
end  to  me  before  morning.  So  the  King  passed 
the  night  in  a  state  of  despondency,  with  his  back 
to  the  portrait.  And  when  the  sun  rose,  he  rose 
also,  and  hardly  contrived  to  pass  the  day  by  the 
help  of  Rasakosha  and  the  garden.  Then  when 
the  sun  set,  they  went  again  to  the  hall  of  audi- 
ence. And  there  they  saw  the  Princess,  clad  in  a 
robe  of  Indian  red,  and  a  bodice  studded  with 
sea-gems,^  and  her  crown  and  other  ornaments, 

«  Ldhita.     The  sea-gem  is  perhaps  some  kind  of  pearl. 

8 


114  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

sitting  on  her  throne.  And  she  looked  at  the 
King,  and  drooped  her  head  like  a  flower,  and  the 
Iving  sank  upon  a  couch,  speechless  and  fascinated, 
under  the  spell  of  her  beauty.  Then  Rasak6sha 
came  forward  and  stood  before  her,  and  began 
again : 

Lady,  a  certain  lover  was  bewailing  the  death  of 
his  mistress,  and  he  exclaimed :  O  Death,  thou  art 
strong;  but  O  Love,  thou  art  stronger.  And  it 
happened  that  Yama  ^  heard  him.  So  he  said  to 
the  god  who  has  a  row  of  bees  for  a  bowstring  2 : 
Hear  what  nonsense  that  foolish  fellow  is  prattling. 
But  Kamadewa  replied:  It  is  not  nonsense,  but 
the  truth.  I  am  the  stronger.  So  a  dispute 
arose  between  them  as  to  which  of  them  was  the 
stronger.  And  after  a  while,  Kd.madewa  said: 
What  is  the  use  of  talking  ?  Let  us  put  the  mat- 
ter to  the  test,  and  make  trial  of  our  power.  And 
Yama  said:  So  be  it.  And  they  chose  for  the 
subjects  of  their  experiments  three  things:  a 
hero,  a  nyagrddha^  tree,  and  the  heart  of  a 
sage. 

Then  Yama  went  first  to  the  tree,  and  smote  its 
roots  with  death.     But  as  fast  as  they  died,  the 

>  The  god  of  death  (pronounce  Yum). 

2  Kdma,  or  Kdmadewa,  the  god  of  love.  His  names  are 
innumerable. 

3  "Down -grower,"  the  banian,  which  lets  down  roots  from 
its  branches. 


Love  and  Death  115 

branches,  inspired  by  Kama,  let  down  roots  from 
above,  and  they  struck  into  the  earth,  and  be- 
came new  trunks,  and  grew  up  and  produced  new 
branches,  which  did  the  same  continually.  So 
after  a  while  Yama'was  tired  and  stopped,  and 
there  was  the  tree  as  strong  as  ever. 

Then  Kamadewa  said:  See,  I  have  conquered. 
But  Yama  said:  Wait  and  see.  And  he  went  to 
the  hero,  and  struck  him  down  when  he  was  fight- 
ing in  the  front  of  the  battle,  and  he  died.  But 
Smara  ^  inspired  the  people  of  that  country ;  and 
they  mourned  for  that  hero,  and  built  him  a 
splendid  pillar ;  and  poets  sang  his  glorious  deeds, 
and  mothers  called  their  children  by  his  name, 
and  they  worshipped  him  as  an  incarnation  of 
deity  in  the  temples. 

Then  Kd,madewa  said:  See,  again  I  have  con- 
quered. Acknowledge  that  I  am  the  stronger. 
But  Yama  said:  Wait  and  see.  And  he  went  to 
the  sage,  as  he  was  practising  terrible  austerities 
in  the  forest,  and  struck  his  heart  and  killed  it. 
But  even  as  he  did  so,  Desire  sprang  up  in  it  ^ 
again  ever  anew,  and  ever-fresh  attachments  to 
the  objects  of  sense,  and  so  the  battle  went  on 
continually  in  the  heart  of  that  sage,  as  it  alter- 
nately became  dead  to  the  world,  and  then  again 

•  A  name  for  Love  which  also  means  memory. 

»  One  of  the  common  names  of  Love  is  "the  mind-born." 


ii6  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

alive,  and  subject  to  the  influence  of  the  pleasures 
of  mundane  existence. 

Then  Kdmadewa  said:  See,  once  more  I  am 
proved  to  be  the  stronger.  The  victory  is  mine. 
Confess  that  you  are  beaten.  But  Yama  said: 
For  all  that,  I  am  the  stronger,  and  that  lover  was 
a  babbler.  And  Kdmadewa  laughed  at  him  and 
mocked  him. 

So  now  tell  me.  Princess,  which  is  the  stronger? 
And  Rasakosha  ceased.  Then  the  Princess  turned 
very  pale,^  and  said  in  a  low  voice:  Kamadewa  is 
cimning,  and,  like  a  dishonest  gambler,  loaded  his 
dice  to  win.  For  in  particular  instances  and  lim- 
ited times,  he  appears  to  be  the  stronger.  And 
therefore  it  was  that  he  challenged  Yama,  know- 
ing very  well  that  all  instances  must  of  necessity 
be  limited  to  a  place  and  time.  But  nevertheless 
Yama  is  stronger  than  he.  For  he  is  unlimited, 
being  Time  itself,  without  beginning  or  end, 2  and 
that  power,  whose  nature  it  is  to  be  unsusceptible 
of  bounds,  can  no  more  be  exhibited  by  particular 
instances  than  the  ceaseless  flow  of  the  Ganges 
can  be  contained  in  a  single  jar. 

»  She  turned  pale,  possibly  because  she  saw  that  her  love 
for  the  King  must  have  an  end:  but  still  more  probably  be- 
cause she  was  afraid  of  offending  the  God  of  Love  by  not 
deciding  in  his  favour. 

2  Kdla,  Time,  is  another  name  for  Yama.  The  answer  of 
the  Princess  is  clever  in  the  extreme. 


Kritakrita  1 1 7 

And  when  the  Princess  had  spoken,  she  rose  up 
and  went  out,  looking  at  the  King  with  eyes  of 
sorrow,  and  the  King's  heart  went  with  her.  But 
the  King  and  Rasakosha  returned  to  their  own 
apartments. 

DAY  NINETEEN 

THE    STORY    OF    KRItAkRITA 

Then  the  King  said  to  Rasakosha:  My  friend, 
now  I  may  offer  water  ^  to  my  happiness,  and  this 
is  the  beginning  of  the  end.  For  three  days  only 
now  remain  to  me,  and  these  will  assuredly  follow 
in  the  footsteps  of  their  predecessors,  and  so  shall 
1.2  Then  will  my  sun  set  for  ever.  Alas !  I  read 
my  fate  in  the  sorrow  that  filled  my  beloved's 
eyes,  as  she  looked  at  me  like  a  frightened  fawn. 
O  that  she  were  either  less  beautiful  or  less  in- 
telligent, for  in  the  union  of  these  two  virtues  Hes 
my  destruction.  Away  with  the  portrait,  which 
bums  me  like  fire!  So  the  King  passed  the 
night  in  a  state  of  delirium,  paying  no  heed  to  the 
portrait.  And  when  the  sun  rose,  he  rose  also, 
and  passed  the  day,  half  living  and  half  dead,  in 
the  garden  with  Rasakosha.     And  when  the  sun 

>  I.e.,  it  is  all  over  with  me.  Water  is  offered  to  the  spirits 
of  departed  ancestors. 

» I.e.,  I  shall  fail  in  my  suit,  like  the  others.  The  following 
sentence  is  a  play  on  his  own  name. 


1 18  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

set,  they  went  again  to  the  hall  of  audience.  And 
there  they  saw  the  Princess,  clad  in  a  robe  of 
cloth  of  gold  and  a  bodice  studded  with  tur- 
quoises, and  her  crown  and  other  ornaments, 
sitting  on  her  throne.  And  she  looked  at  the 
King  with  eyes  in  which  joy  and  grief  fought  for 
the  mastery:  and  the  Ring  sank  upon  a  couch, 
speechless  and  fascinated,  under  the  spell  of  her 
beauty.  Then  Rasakosha  came  forward  and 
stood  before  her  and  began  again : 

Lady,  there  was  once  a  Brahman  named  Kritd- 
krita,^  who  neglected  the  study  of  the  W6das,  and 
walked  in  the  black  path,  abandoning  all  his 
duties,^  and  associating  with  gamblers,  harlots, 
and  outcasts.  And  he  frequented  the  cemeteries 
at  night,  and  became  familiar  with  ghosts  and 
vampires  and  dead  bodies,  and  impure  and  un- 
holy rites  and  incantations.  And  one  night, 
amid  the  flaming  of  funeral  pyres  and  the  reek 
of  burning  corpses,  a  certain  Vampire  ^  of  his 
acquaintance  said  to  him:  I  am  hungry:  bring 
me  fresh  meat  to  devour,  or  I  will  tear  you  fn 
pieces.     Then  Kritakrita  said:    I  will  bring  it, 

>  "Done  and  not  done." 

2  Achdrabhrashta,  an  apostate  or  decasted  person.  See 
Manu,  I.,  io8. 

3  Wetdla,  an  uncanny  being,  generally  possessing  magic 
powers,  given  to  occupying  empty  corpses  and  devouring 
human  flesh. 


Kritakrita  1 19 

but  not  for  nothing.  What  will  you  give  me  for 
it?  The  Vampire  replied:  Bring  me  a  newly- 
slain  Brahman,  and  I  will  teach  you  a  spell  for 
raising  the  dead.  But  Kritakrita  said:  That  is 
not  enough.  And  they  haggled  in  the  cemetery 
about  the  price.  At  last  that  abandoned  Brah- 
man said :  Throw  in  a  pair  of  dice  that  will  enable 
me  always  to  win  at  play,  and  I  will  bring  you  the 
flesh  you  require.  So  the  Vampire  said :  Be  it  so. 
Then  Kritakrita  went  away,  and  knowing  no 
other  resource,  secretly  murdered  his  own  brother, 
and  brought  him  to  the  cemetery  at  midnight. 
And  the  Vampire  kept  his  word,  giving  him  the 
dice,  and  teaching  him  the  spell. 

Then  some  time  afterwards,  Kritakrita  said  to 
himself:  I  will  try  the  efficacy  of  this  spell  that 
the  Vampire  has  taught  me.  So  he  procured  the 
body  of  a  dead  Chandala,^  and  taking  it  at  the 
dead  of  night  to  the  cemetery,  placed  it  on  the 
ground,  and  began  to  recite  the  spell.  But  when 
he  had  got  halfway  through,  he  looked  at  the 
corpse,  and  saw  its  left  arm,  and  leg,  and  eye 
moving  horribly  with  life,  the  other  half  being 
still  dead.  And  he  was  so  terrified  at  the  sight, 
that  he  utterly  forgot  the  rest  of  the  spell,  and 
leaped  up  and  ran  away.     But  the  corpse  jumped 

1  The  lowest  caste,  whose  very  proximity  was  pollution  to  a 
Brahman. 


I20  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

up  also,  and  a  vampire  entered  its  dead  half,  and 
it  rushed  rapidly  after  him,  shuffling  on  one  leg, 
and  rolling  its  one  eye,  and  yelling  indistinctly: 
Underdone,  overdone,  undone!  ^  But  Kritakrita 
fled  at  full  speed  to  his  house,  and  getting  into 
bed  lay  there  trembling.  And  after  a  while  he 
fell  asleep.  And  then  suddenly  he  awoke,  hear- 
ing a  noise,  and  he  looked  and  saw  the  door  open, 
and  the  corpse  of  that  dead  Chandala  came  in, 
and  shuffled  swiftly  towards  him  on  its  left  leg, 
rolling  its  left  eye,  with  its  dead  half  hanging  down 
beside  it,  and  crying  in  a  terrible  voice:  Under- 
done, overdone,  undone!  And  Kritdkrita  sprang 
out  of  bed,  and  ran  out  by  another  door,  and 
mounting  a  horse,  fled  as  fast  as  he  could  to 
another  city  a  great  way  off. 

And  there  he  thought :  Here  I  am  safe.  So  he 
went  day  by  day  to  the  gambling  hall,  and  playing 
with  his  dice,  won  great  sums  of  money,  and  lived 
at  his  ease,  feasting  himself  and  others.  But  one 
night,  when  he  was  sitting  among  the  gamblers  in 
the  gambling  hall,  throwing  the  dice,  he  heard 
behind  him  a  noise  of  shuffling.  And  he  looked 
round,  and  saw,  coming  swiftly  towards  him  on 
one  leg,  the  corpse  of  that  dead  Chanddla,  with 
its  dead  half  rotting  and  hanging  down,  and  its 

«  This  is  all  one  word  in  the  original,  unddhikdkritamkritam, 
■'what  has  been  done  is  too  little,  too  much,  and  not  done  at 
all." 


Kritakrita  121 

left  eye  rolling  in  anger,  and  calling  out  in  a  voice 
of  thunder:  Underdone,  overdone,  undone!  And 
he  rose  up  with  a  shriek,  and  leaped  over  the 
table,  and  fled  away  by  an  opposite  door  and  left 
that  city,  and  ran  as  fast  as  he  could,  constantly 
looking  behind  him  through  the  forest  for  many 
days  and  nights,  never  daring  to  stop  even  to  take 
breath,  till  he  reached  another  city  a  long  way 
off.  And  there  he  remained,  disguised  and  con- 
cealed, as  it  were  in  a  hole.  But  all  the  gamblers 
in  that  gambling  saloon  died  of  fear. 

And  after  some  time  he  again  accumulated 
wealth  by  gambling  in  that  city,  and  lived  in  ex- 
travagance at  his  ease.  But  one  night,  when  he 
was  sitting  with  an  hetcsra  whom  he  loved,  in  the 
inner  room  of  her  house,  he  heard  the  noise  of 
shuffling.  And  he  looked  round,  and  saw  once 
more  the  corpse  of  that  dead  Chanddla  coming 
swiftly  towards  him  on  one  leg,  with  its  dead  half, 
from  whose  bones  the  flesh  had  rotted  away, 
hanging  down,  and  its  left  eye  blazing  with 
flames  of  rage,  calling  out  with  a  voice  like  the 
scream  of  Rawana :  Underdone,  overdone,  undone! 
Then  that  hetcera  then  and  there  abandoned  the 
body  in  her  terror.  And  Kritdkrita  rose  up,  and 
ran  out  by  a  door,  which  led  out  upon  the  bal- 
cony, while  the  Ch^ndala  hastened  after  him. 
And   finding  no  other  outlet,   Kritakrita  flung 


122  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

himself  down  into  the  street,  and  was  dashed  to 
pieces,  and  died. 

So  now  tell  me,  Princess,  what  did  that  corpse 
mean  by  his  words?  And  Rasakosha  ceased. 
Then  the  Princess  said:  There  is  no  difficulty  in 
this.  Woe  to  the  feeble  souls  that  have  not 
courage  to  carry  through  what  they  have  the 
presumption  to  begin!  They  do  indeed  either 
too  little  or  too  much,  and  are  themselves  their 
own  tmdoing.  For  the  strong  in  virtue  avoid 
sin  altogether;  while  the  daring  in  vice  face  the 
consequences  of  their  own  conduct:  those  attain 
heavenly  rewards,  and  these  the  good  things  of 
this  world;  but  the  coward  souls  who  are  too 
weak  to  be  either  virtuous  or  vicious  are  piinished 
by  that  very  weakness  in  the  form  of  their  con- 
sciousness of  guilt,  and  lose  both  worlds. 

And  when  the  Princess  had  spoken,  she  rose  up 
and  went  out,  looking,  and  yet  as  it  were  not  look- 
ing, at  the  King,  whose  heart  went  with  her.  But 
the  King  and  Rasak6sha  returned  to  their  own 
apartments. 

DAY  TWENTY 

CONCLUSION 

Then  the  King  said  to  Rasak6sha:  My  friend, 
I  have  been  bitten  by  the  beauty  of  this  incom- 


Conclusion  123 

parable  woman  as  by  a  black  cobra,  and  now  the 
poison  works.  I  have  but  two  more  days  to  live. 
For  certain  it  is  that  her  answer  to  your  last 
question  will  be  my  sentence  of  death,  and  equally 
certain  it  is,  that  she  will  give  that  answer;  for 
her  intellect  is  like  the  edge  of  a  sharp  sword, 
which  while  it  cuts  the  knot  of  the  problem  will  at 
the  same  moment  pierce  me  to  the  heart.  And  the 
King  passed  the  night  in  a  state  of  despair,  leav- 
ing his  bed  untouched.  And  when  the  sun  rose, 
he  rose  also,  and  went  out  alone  into  the  garden, 
and  wandered  about,  dreading  the  setting  of  the 
sun,  yet  longing  for  reunion  with  his  beloved,  till 
his  soul  was  almost  riven  in  twain  with  opposite 
emotions.  And  he  reproached  Windy aka,  saying : 
O  thou  of  the  Ruddy  Trunk,  I  have  been  deceived 
by  thee ;  and  instead  of  clearing  my  road  to  suc- 
cess, thou  hast  blocked  it  by  an  insurmountable 
obstacle  in  the  form  of  this  lady's  piercing  acute- 
ness  of  understanding.  And  then  he  said:  This 
is  no  time  for  despair.  Let  me  not,  like  Kritd- 
krita,  leave  my  work  half  finished,  but  rather 
endeavoiu:  myself  to  discover  some  riddle  that 
she  cannot  answer.  And  yet  what  hope  is  there 
that  where  Rasakosha  has  failed,  I  should  succeed? 
For  the  Princess  is  not  more  skilful  in  answering 
his  questions  than  he  in  composing  them,  being, 
as  it  were,  a  very  ocean  of  stories  in  human  form. 


124  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

Or  rather,  no  mortal,  but  only  a  god,  could  pose 
the  ingenuity  of  this  lovely  lady.  Then  he 
prayed  to  Saraswati,  saying :  O  goddess  of  speech, 
my  only  refuge  is  in  thy  favour.  O  befriend  me, 
and  either  cloud  the  mind  of  my  beloved  with 
temporary  bewilderment,  or  else  reveal  to  me 
some  puzzle  which  she  will  be  unable  to  answer. 
Truly,  my  puzzle  is  worse  than  hers. 

And  on  the  instant,  Saraswati  put  a  thought 
into  his  heart.  And  he  sprang  up  with  a  shout 
of  joy,  exclaiming :  Ha !  I  am  favoured.  Victory 
to  Saraswati!  The  Princess  is  mine!  And  he 
ran  quickly  to  find  Rasakosha,  whom  he  dis- 
covered buried  in  profoimd  meditation  on  a  story 
for  the  coming  evening,  and  said:  My  friend, 
away  with  meditation !  Evprina !  ^  I  will  myself 
propose  a  riddle  to  the  Princess  this  evening. 
Then  Rasakosha  said:  O  King,  I  congratulate 
you.  But  still,  in  a  matter  of  such  importance, 
let  us  risk  nothing  by  presumptuous  confidence. 
So  propound  your  riddle  to  me  first,  that  we  may 
make  trial  of  its  difficulty.  Then  King  Surya- 
kdnta  laughed  in  delight,  and  said:  Your  very 
doubt  shows  that  it  is  unanswerable.  My  own 
case  is  the  very  problem.  I  will  go  to  the  Princess, 
and  ask  her  what  I  ought  to  do.  And  if  she  tells 
me,  then  I  will  ask  her  to-morrow  what  she  tells 

•  Literally,  "the  object  is  attained." 


Conclusion  125 

me  to-day ;  and  if  she  does  not  tell  me,  then  she 
is  mine,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  agreement, 
to-day ;  and  so  in  either  alternative,  the  bird  ^  is 
caged. 

Then  Rasak6sha  said  with  a  smile:  Victory  to 
your  Majesty!  Truly  wonderful  is  the  power  of 
love:  like  a  stone  it  at  once  blimts  and  sharpens 
the  edge  of  intellect.  For  it  formerly  blinded  you 
to  everything  in  the  world,  and  now  it  has  sharp- 
ened your  sight  so  as  to  discover  what  has  escaped 
us  all  this  time,  though  lying,  as  it  were,  on  the  road 
before  us.  But  unless  I  am  deceived  by  the  ex- 
ternal signs,  I  predict  that  the  god  of  love  will  also 
blind  the  Princess ;  or  rather,  that  she  will  throw 
herself  gladly  into  the  cage.  For  none  are  so  eas- 
ily caught  as  those  who  wish  to  be ;  and  though 
the  Princess  has  been  adamant  to  my  questions, 
she  will  be  soft  as  a  flower  to  yours. 

Then  in  his  impatience  the  King  could  hardly 
endiire  the  remainder  of  the  day,  burning  with 
desire  to  put  his  question  to  the  Princess.  But  at 
last  the  sun  set.  Then  Rasak6sha  said :  O  King, 
go  you  alone  to  the  hall  of  audience.  For  my 
absence  will  do  you  more  service  to-day  than  my 
presence  did  before.  There  are  cases  when  a 
friend  shows  his  friendship  rather  by  his  absence 
than  his   presence.      Apropos,  I  will  tell  you  a 

>  Here  there  is  a  pun. 


126  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

story:  Listen.  But  the  King  said:  My  friend, 
this  is  no  time  for  stories,  even  though  told  by 
you.  And  though  I  will  go  alone  to-night,  with- 
out you,  yet  know,  that  should  I  achieve  success 
by  the  favour  of  Saraswati  and  the  Lord  of  Ob- 
stacles, I  shall  nevertheless  owe  it  to  you  rather 
than  myself.  For  not  only  have  you  sustained 
my  life  daily,  during  the  hours  of  separation,  but 
your  stories  have  been,  as  it  were,  a  ladder,  by 
which  I  have  ascended  step  by  step  to  the  win- 
dow of  my  beloved's  chamber.  And  does  not  the 
lowest  rung  of  the  ladder  contribute  equally  with 
the  highest  to  the  attainment  of  the  summit  of 
hope?  Then  Rasakosha  laughed,  and  said:  O 
King,  it  is  well.  Now  go,  and  though  you  have 
not  heard  my  story,  yet  I  have  attained  in  some 
measure  the  end  I  had  in  view  in  proposing  it. 
For  you  have  kept  the  Princess  waiting,  and  ex- 
pectation increases  desire.  Good  luck  be  with 
you! 

Then  the  King  left  him  and  went  very  quickly 
by  himself  to  the  hall  of  audience.  And  his  right 
arm  throbbed  as  he  drew  near  the  door,  and,  re- 
joicing at  the  omen,  he  went  in.  And  there  he 
saw  Anangardgd,,  clad  in  a  robe  of  the  hue  of 
indigo,^  and  a  bodice  rainbow-hued  like  the  neck 

>  This  has  a  meaning:  see  note  i,p.  131.  The  sunstone  is 
probably  a  topaz. 


Conclusion  127 

of  a  pigeon,  and  studded  with  yellow  sunstones, 
and  her  crown  and  other  ornaments ;  but  she  had 
left  her  throne  and  come  towards  the  door,  and 
was  looking  with  anxiety  for  the  King.  But  when 
she  saw  him,  she  blushed,^  and  returned  in  con- 
fusion to  her  throne.  And  King  Suryakdnta 
went  up  to  her,  and  fell  down  before  her  and  took 
her  by  the  hand,  and  said :  Lady,  there  was  once 
a  King,  who  became  suitor  to  a  Princess,  lovely 
like  thyself,  on  this  condition,  that  if  he  could  ask 
her  a  question  that  she  could  not  answer,  she 
should  be  his.  Now  tell  me,  O  thou  lovely  in- 
carnation of  wisdom,  what  should  he  ask  her? 

And  instantly  the  Princess  rose  up  quickly,  and 
exclaimed  in  delight:  O  clever  one,  thou  hast 
guessed.  And  she  threw  round  his  neck  the  neck- 
lace of  her  arms,  and  so  chose  him  as  her  husband. ^ 
And  she  said :  See,  thy  image  is  reflected  a  thou- 
sand times  in  these  gems  that  resemble  thee ;  yet 
look  in  my  eyes,  and  thou  shalt  see  thyself 
through  them  reflected  in  my  heart.  Then  the 
King  looked  into  her  eyes,  and  saw  himself  re- 
flected in  them  like  the  sun  in  a  deep  lake.  And 
he  whispered  in  the  shell  of  her  ear:  Thou  hast 
robbed  me  of  myself :  give  me  back  myself  in  thy 

'  See  note,  p.  104. 

2  This  is  an  allusion  to  the  swayamwara,  an  old  ceremony  by 
which  a  maiden  chose  her  own  hvisband  by  throwing  a  garland 
rovmd  his  neck. 


128  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

form.  Then  the  Princess  said,  in  a  low  voice, 
looking  down :  Wouldst  thou  take  my  sweetness 
for  nothing?  What  did  the  bee  give  the  lotus? 
And  the  King  trembled  with  passion,  and  putting 
his  hand  beneath  her  chin,  he  raised  her  face  and 
kissed  her  on  her  ruby  mouth.  And  in  that  mo- 
ment he  forgot  everything,  and  he  felt  his  life 
surging  through  him  like  a  wave  of  the  sea,  and 
he  became  blind  and  deaf,  and  tottered  on  his 
feet.  Then  Anangar^ga  roused  him  from  his 
stupor  by  saying :  Wert  thou  afraid  of  losing  me  ? 
And  he  said :  O  my  beloved,  I  am  saved  from  the 
mouth  of  death.  Then  she  laughed  low,  and 
said:  There  was  no  cause  for  fear.  For  had  I 
again  answered  a  question  to-day,  I  would  have 
refused  to  answer  to-morrow,  even  though  thou 
hadst  asked  me  nothing  but  my  own  name.  But 
I  could  scarcely  endure  to  wait  till  to-morrow, 
and  it  is  better  as  it  is.  Then  the  King  said: 
And  why,  O  thou  rogue,  didst  thou  not  refuse  to 
answer  before,  and  save  me  from  torture?  And 
Anangaraga  said :  It  was  torture  also  to  me.  And 
yet  I  know  not  why,  but  there  was  nectar  in  the 
poison,  and  know,  O  my  lord,  that  this  is  the 
nature  of  women,  that  they  love  to  torment  their 
lover,  and  refuse  him  what  they  themselves  most 
of  all  desire. 

Then  King  Suryakdnta  almost  swooned  away 


Conclusion  129 

from  excess  of  joy.  And  he  said:  Come,  let  us 
leave  this  place,  which  is  hateful  to  me  as  the 
scene  of  my  sufferings,  and  let  us  return  without 
delay  to  my  capital.  And  the  Princess  said:  As 
my  lord  pleases. 

Then  the  King  sent  Rasakosha,  with  all  the 
retinue  of  the  Princess,  on  before.  But  he  him- 
self set  out  at  night  alone  with  his  bride.  And 
they  rode  on  slowly,  side  by  side,  through  the 
forest  in  the  moonlight,  he  on  a  white  horse,  and 
she  on  a  black,  looking  like  the  beauty  of  day  and 
night  incarnate  in  mortal  form.  And  at  mid- 
night they  stopped  to  rest  in  the  forest.  And  the 
King  lifted  Anangaragd,  from  her  horse,  and 
placed  her  in  a  bower  of  creepers  under  a  great 
tree.  And  the  moon  shone  with  warm  rays 
through  the  interstices  of  the  leaves  as  through 
the  marble  trellis  of  a  palace  terrace.  And  there 
on  a  bed  of  leaves  and  flowers,  he  made  her  his 
wife  by  the  Gandharwa  ^  marriage  rite.  And  he 
played  with  the  tresses  of  her  blue-black  hair, 
through  which  her  eyes  shone  like  moonstones  in 
the  moonlight;  and  he  wove  red  ashdka  flowers 
in  her  hair,  and  hung  blue  lotuses  on  her  bosom, 

«  See  Mann,  III.,  26.  Though  recognised  as  a  legitimate 
marriage,  especially  for  Kshatriyas,  it  was  simply  the  union  of 
two  lovers  without  any  rites  at  all.  This  suits  it  admirably 
for  fairy  tale  and  romance,  and  makes  it  a  great  favourite 
with  the  poets. 

9 


I30  A  Dio^it  of  the  Moon 


t>' 


and  put  a  girdle  of  white  lotuses  round  her  waist, 
and  tied  anklets  of  jasmine  blossoms  on  her  feet. 
And  in  the  ecstasy  of  his  passion,  bewildered  by 
her  beauty,  he  exclaimed:  Well  art  thou  called 
Anangaragd,  O  my  beloved;  and  yet  a  single 
name  is  insufficient  to  describe  the  infinite  variety 
of  thy  thousand-rayed  loveliness.  Thou  art 
Mrigal6chana,  for  thine  eyes  are  lustrous  and 
frightened  like  the  antelope's ;  and  Nllanalini,  for 
thy  dark  hair  is  like  a  pool  for  the  lotuses  of  thine 
eyes;  and  Madanalilal61ata,  for  those  eyes  dance 
with  the  tremulous  light  of  love ;  and  Shashil^kha, 
for  thou  art  fair  and  fragile  as  a  digit  of  the  moon; 
and  Bujalata,  for  thy  arms  are  curved  and  cling 
like  creepers ;  and  Kusumayashti,  for  thy  body  is 
straight  and  slender  like  the  stalk  of  a  flower; 
and  Kambukanthi,  for  thy  neck  is  like  a  shell; 
and  Rajanichdya,  for  the  sheen  of  thy  beauty  is 
like  that  of  the  night;  and  Lawanyamurti,  for 
thou  art  the  very  incarnation  of  the  perfection  of 
loveliness ;  and  Manoharini,  for  thou  ravishest  my 
soul ;  and  Madalahari,  for  thou  art  a  wave  of  the 
sea  of  intoxication;  and  Alipriya,  for  the  bees 
resort  to  the  honey  of  thy  lips,  mistaking  them  for 
a  flower ;  and  Wajrasuchi,  for  thy  intellect  is  like 
a  diamond  needle;  and  Hemakumbhini,  for  thy 
bosom  resembles  a  pair  of  golden  gourds;  and 
Pulindkriti,  for  the  curves  of  thy  hips  are  like  the 


Conclusion  131 

swell  of  a  river  bank;  and  Nandrupini,  for  thy 
beauty  is  infinite ;  and  Bhrukutichala,  for  the  play 
of  thy  brows  is  like  the  lightning  in  the  clouds ; 
and  yet  all  these  names  are  powerless  to  paint 
thy  celestial  and  overpowering  fascination,  which 
maddens  me  as  I  gaze  at  it.  Then  Anangaraga 
said,  with  a  smile :  O  my  lord,  thou  hast  omitted, 
among  all  these  names,  the  only  one  that  really 
belongs  to  me.  And  the  King  said:  What  is 
that?  Then  she  said:  Thou  art  my  deity,  and  I 
am  possessed  by  thee  in  every  particle  of  my 
being;  and  therefore  call  me  Nillraga,  for  my 
devotion  ^  to  thee  shall  be  constant  and  indelible 
as  the  dye  of  indigo.  And  know,  O  sun  of  my 
soul,  that  without  this  all  the  beauty  of  women 
IS  but  nectar-poison. 

Then  the  King's  heart  almost  broke  in  his  joy. 
and  he  exclaimed:  Ha!  I  have  obtained  the  fruit 
of  my  birth.  All  else  is  nothingness  and  futility. 
What  can  the  future  hold  for  me  but  this,  or  its 
absence,  which  would  be  worse  than  a  thousand 
deaths?  And  he  prayed  to  the  all-powerful  and 
self -existent  One, 2  saying:  O  Maheshwara,  let  this 
heaven  continue  for  ever,  and  let  the  chain  of  my 
existence  be  broken  at  this  point!  Or  rather, 
let  Time  be  destroyed  for  me,  and  let  me  remain, 

'  Bhakti  is  almost  untranslatable.     It  means  the  absorbed 
and  total  love,  faith,  devotion  of  a  worshipper  for  his  god. 
»  Shiwa. 


132  A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

beyond  its  influence,  for  evermore  in  this  present, 
this  moment  of  imion  with  my  beloved! 

And  that  moon-crested  god  heard  him,  and 
granted  his  wish.  And  he  shot  at  that  pair  of 
lovers,  as  they  slept  in  one  another's  arms  in  the 
moonlit  creeper  bower,  a  glance  of  his  third  eye, 
and  reduced  them  to  ashes.  But  he  said:  The 
chain  of  their  existence  cannot  yet  be  broken, 
for  they  have  not  yet  earned  emancipation  by 
penance  and  austerities.  But  they  shall  meet 
again,  and  be  husband  and  wife  in  another  birth. 


A  Heifer  of  the  Dawn 


"Lo/    how  Dark   Night  shrinks  from  her  sister  Dawn,  and 

gloomy  Black  gives  way  to  Rosy  Red." — 

Rig  Weda,  vii.  71. 


133 


SODALIBUS  NONDUM  DEFUNCTIS 
SALUTEM 

ANIMULA   •    VAGULA   •    BLANDULA 
HOSPES   •    COMESQUE   •    CORPORIS 
FLAMMA    •    PROCUL  •    SCINTILLULA 
ORCI    •    TENEBRIS    •    OBRUTA 
CALIGINOSIS   •    HEU!    VEHOR 
etSooXoV    •    UMBRAE    •     FABULA 
CEU   •    NIGRA   •    CONJUX   •    INDICA 
FUNCTO   •    MARITI    •    CORPORE 
POENAMQUE    •    NASCI   •    JUDICO 
NEC  •    VIVA   •    JAM   •    NEC   •    MORTUA 
QUALISQUE   •    VESPERTILIO 
DIO   •    RELAPSO   •    LUMINE 
NOCTURNA   •    DEGO   •    TAEDIA 
DONEC  •    RESURGET  •    LUCIFER 


ISS 


Preface 

All  sweetness,  says  the  Rig  Weda,  is  col- 
lected IN  THE  Heifer  ' :  the  Red  One  of  the 
Dawn.  And  the  Oriental  use  of  the  word  heifer, 
to  signify  a  wife  or  queen,  is  familiar  to  every 
reader  of  the  Hebrew  Bible.  If  ye  had  not 
ploughed  with  my  heifer,  said  Samson,  ye  had 
not  found  out  my  riddle.  Thus  the  meaning  of 
the  title  of  this  little  story  is  at  once  clear:  the 
collected  sweetness  of  the  heifer  :  i.  e.,  the  ambrosia  * 
of  the  early  morning,  in  a  feminine  form. 

All  know  it,  the  nectar  of  dawn,  who  are  wise 
enough  to  rise,  like  the  hero  of  this  story,  before 
the  sun.  And  yet,  perhaps  it  is  necessary  to  live 
in  the  East,  properly  to  appreciate  the  meaning 
of  morning.  Love,  for  example,  is  a  very  old 
God :  as  some  of  the  ancient  Greeks  told  us,  even 

I  iii.  30,  14.  (The  translation  is  literally  exact:  wishwam 
swddma  sambhritam  usriydyam.) 

'  The  feminine  form,  amritd,  is  the  name  of  one  of  the 
digits  of  the  moon.  And  apropos:  could  we  penetrate  into 
the  darkness  of  mythological  origins,  we  might  perhaps  dis- 
cover that  the  half-moon  on  the  forehead  of  Maheshwara  is 
related  to  the  horns  of  his  btill.  And  similarly,  Isis,  the 
horned  moon  =  lo,  the  heifer. 

137 


138  Preface 

the  very  oldest  of  all.^  Why  is  that?  Because 
he  comes  out  of  the  East:  he  belongs  to  the 
Dawn.  Eros,  Eos,  Aurora,  Ushas,  Arusha. 
First  comes  Night,  and  Chaos:  and  then,  out  of 
the  black  there  arises,  silently,  imperceptibly, 
irresistibly,  the  glorious,  the  blushing,  the  beau- 
tiful, amber-clouded,  opal-shredded,  amethyst-be- 
dappled  Dawn.  O  Dawn,  how  I  do  love  thee! 
how,  after  a  night  of  blackness  and  distress,  has 
thy  delicious  fragrance  raised  me  from  the  dead, 
with  its  colour  and  its  camphor  and  the  nectar 
touch  of  its  rosy  finger,  softer  than  flowers,  cooler 
than  sandal-wood.  Yes,  it  is  necessary  to  be  a 
dweller  in  the  East,  to  taste  and  tmderstand  the 
religion  of  the  Dawn. 

And  the  heifer?  What  is  the  secret  of  the 
rooted  affection  of  the  Aryan  and  Iranian,  the 
Weda  and  Awesta,  for  the  Cow  ? 

Partly,  no  doubt,  its  utilitarian  value.  But 
they  are  deceived,  who  think  that  this  is  all. 
There  is  religion  2  in  it,  mysticism,  aesthetic  af- 
fection. The  Cow  is  an  Idea.  This  was  first 
brought  home  to  the  translator  in  the  following 
way. 

>  As  also  in  Rig  Weda,  10.  129.  4. 

»  If  you  like,  superstition.  But  it  is  not  growing  weaker. 
I  have  repeatedly  suggested,  to  comparatively  emancipated 
Hindoos,  that  cows  might  be  killed.  The  very  possibility 
was  always  repudiated  with  horror  and  disgtist. 


Preface  139 

Passing  through  Rajputana,  he  came  to  Jey- 
pore.  And  it  happened,  on  a  hot  afternoon,  that 
he  was  rambling  in  its  outskirts,  ankle-deep  in 
white  dust, — for  Jeypore  stands  on  the  edge  of 
Marusthali,  "the  region  of  death," — and  suddenly 
he  came  upon  a  cluster  of  chattris,  yellow  marble 
memorial  tombs  of  old  kings,  and  he  lay  down 
to  rest  in  their  shade.  And  there  as  he  lay, 
blessing  the  old  raja  whose  umbrella  afforded  a 
refuge  for  the  suppliant  even  after  his  death — 
there  came  along  the  blinding,  glaring  white  way, 
with  noiseless  footfall,  a  little  mouse-coloured 
heifer,  bowing  its  head  from  side  to  side,  as  it 
stepped  on  daintily  in  the  dust,  with  great,  wise, 
black,  lustrous,  beautiful  eyes.  On  its  back  was 
a  pile  of  red  clothing :  on  that  again,  a  great  bowl 
or  basin  of  brass :  and  in  the  bowl  sat,  like  a  little 
deity,  sucking  its  thumb,  and  crooning  to  itself 
some  monotonous  ditty,  a  tiny  Hindoo  child. 
The  fierce,  furious  glare  of  the  sun  was  collected  as 
it  were  into  a  focus  of  white  light  on  its  bare  head, 
and  glinted  from  its  glossy,  jet-black  hair.  Moved 
to  adoration,  the  spectator  seized  his  opportimity 
as  they  wandered  by,  and  offered  tribute  and 
homage  to  the  Mother  and  the  Child.  A  pair  of 
great  eyes  stared  at  him  with  alarm,  but  the 
slender  little  brown  fingers  shut  down  instinctively 
over  the  silver  rupee.     Then  they  passed  on,  the 


I40  Preface 

little  deity  and  its  tutelary  "vehicle,"'  moving 
delicately  with  that  undulating  hesitation  which 
the  Creator  has  bestowed  only  upon  women  and 
cows,  reached  the  black  jaws  of  a  street  narrow  as 
a  door,  rounded  the  comer,  and  disappeared. 

Since  then,  every  heifer,  and  for  the  sake  of  the 
heifer,  also  even  every  ox,  has  possessed  for  the 
writer  a  touch  of  divinity.  The  roast  beef  of  Old 
England  savours  of  cannibalism,  as  often  as  he 
looks  into  their  great  reproachful  eyes:  eyes  out 
of  which  look  back  at  you  the  infinite  patience, 
the  imperturbable  repose,  and  the  stubborn  in- 
tractability of  the  inscrutable  East. 

PooNA,  December  17,  1903. 


Every  Hindoo  deity  has  his  (or  her)  "vehicle,"  or  wdhana. 


Contents 

nun 

A  Political  Alliance 143 

The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon: 

Mango 155 

Patali  ........  159 

Jasmine         .......  163 

A  Flowerless  Dawn 167 

Champak      .         .         .         .         ,         .         .173 

Lotus ,         .  175 

Shriphala 178 

Shirisha 181 

Kadamba     .......  184 

Amaranth 188 

Ashoka         .......  191 

Palasha         .......  195 

Shami  .......  198 


[To  appreciate  this  anthology,  the  English  reader  shotild 
remember,  that  according  to  the  Hindoos,  flowers  are  not 
only  the  arrows  of  the  God  of  Love,  but  the  very  stuff  of 
which  his  bow  is  made:  bees  are  his  bowstring,  and  Madhu, 
or  Spring,  is  his  dtne  damnie  and  sworn  ally.] 


141 


A  Heifer  of  the  Dawn 

A  POLITICAL  ALLIANCE 

INVOCATION 

Salutation  to  the  great  Third  eye  of  the  Master 
of  all  Emotion:  that  eye,  which  could  wither  the 
God  of  Love  with  shooting  flames,  and  yet  open,  to 
her  confusion,  with  the  tenderness  of  a  flower  on 
the  bashful  Pdrwati,  as  she  was  endeavouring  to 
rob  him  of  the  sight  of  her  own  beauty  by  placing  her 
hands  over  the  other  two  I  ^ 

There  lived  formerly,  in  another  kalpa,  a  stupid 
king,  who  possessed  two  things,  that  like  the  edge 
of  a  sword  kept  him  from  sleeping :  a  brave  enemy 
and  a  beautiful  daughter :  for  his  enemy  was  too 
strong,  and  his  daughter  too  clever  for  him :  more- 
over, his  enemy  was  yoimg,  and  his  daughter  un- 
married. And  after  racking  his  brains  to  no 
purpose  for  a  long  time,  there  came  to  him  at  last, 
as  he  lay  awake  one  night,  a  thought.     And  he 

'  The  details  of  this  conjugal  episode  between  Shiwa  and 
his  wife  may  be  foxmd  in  the  Kumdra  Sambhawa,  the  che^ 
d'acuvre  of  Kalidds. 

M3 


144  A  Heifer  of  the  Dawn 

exclaimed:  Ha!  I  will  mix  this  poison  and  this 
nectar,  and  pour  the  sea  of  my  daughter's  beauty 
over  the  fire  of  my  enemy's  hostility,  and  so  ex- 
tinguish it  altogether :  and  gain  for  my  kingdom, 
security,  and  for  my  daughter,  a  husband,  and  for 
myself,  rest,  and  a  release  from  anxiety.  And 
this  idea  pleased  him  so  much  that  he  shouted 
aloud.  Then  all  the  guards,  thinking  that  he  was 
in  danger,  ran  in  with  lights.  And  they  saw  the 
King  stark  naked,  skipping  about  the  room  like 
a  calf,  waving  his  hands,  and  exclaiming :  Ha !  my 
enemy !  ha !  my  daughter !  So  they  said :  Surely, 
his  short  wits  have  come  to  an  end,  and  now  he 
is  mad.  But  the  King  sent  for  musicians,  and 
rose  up  then  and  there,  and  made  merry  all  night, 
waiting  with  impatience  for  the  day. 

Then  in  the  morning  he  chose  a  messenger,  and 
sent  him  away  to  his  enemy,  and  said  to  him,  by 
the  mouth  of  his  envoy:  Let  us  be  friends  and 
rule  the  earth  together  in  peace :  and  I  will  bestow 
on  thee  my  daughter  in  marriage,  asking  from  thee 
nothing  in  return.  And  what  a  gift  mine  is,  thou 
shalt  discover  when  it  comes  to  thee.  For  should 
I  describe  its  value  and  its  qualities  in  words 
beforehand,  I  should  seem  but  a  liar  in  thine  eyes. 
So  the  envoy  went  with  his  message.  But  the 
King's  daughter,  hearing  of  the  matter,  privately 
sent  agents  of  her  own,  saying  nothing  to  her 


A  Political  Alliance  145 

father,  to  find  out  all  they  could  about  her  bride- 
groom, and  his  affairs. 

Then  time  went  by,  and  the  King's  envoy  was 
absent  so  long  that  the  King  could  hardly  keep 
himself  alive  for  vexation  and  impatience.  But 
at  last,  as  he  sat  one  day  with  his  daughter  beside 
him,  there  came  in  a  doorkeeper  who  fell  at  his 
feet,  and  said:  Thy  envoy  has  returned,  and  now, 
what  are  the  King's  commands?  And  the  King 
bade  her  '  bring  him  in,  without  losing  a  moment. 
So  the  envoy  came  in,  just  as  he  was,  dusty  and 
travel-stained,  and  stood  before  him.  And  the 
King  looked  at  him  with  red  eyes,  and  said: 
What  shall  be  done  to  the  envoy  who  hngers  on 
the  King's  errand,  till  his  black  hairs  turn  to 
grey,  and  the  grey  to  white? 

Then  the  envoy  joined  his  hands,  and  said:  O 
King,  let  thy  anger  fall,  but  not  on  the  innocent. 
For  as  for  me,  I  went  and  came,  swifter  than  a 
traveller  in  the  rainy  season  returning  to  the 
caresses  of  his  bride.  All  the  delay  was  caused 
by  the  madness  of  this  son-in-law  of  thine  that  is 
to  be,  or  not,  according  to  thy  pleasure.  For 
some  time  ago  it  happened,  that  returning  from 
his  army,  which  he  had  led  away  in  person 
to  subdue  a  vassal  that  had  revolted,  he  entered 

'  The  doorkeeper  (pratihdri)  seems  to  have  been,  in  old 
Hindoo  courts,  a  woman;  as  were  sometimes  even  the 
guards. 


14^  A  Heifer  of  the  Dawn 

his  apartments,  when  nobody  expected  him,  and 
saw  his  queen,  for  he  had  only  one,^  conversing 
with  a  man,  whom  she  had  conveyed  into  the 
palace  in  the  clothes  of  a  woman.  And  in- 
stantly there  came  over  him  a  horror  of  the 
world  and  its  delusions,  but  above  all  of  women, 
so  great,  that,  after  banishing  his  queen,  for  he 
would  not  put  her  to  death,  he  turned  his  back 
upon  his  royal  estate,  and  cast  off  his  kingly 
pleasures,  as  a  snake  discards  its  old  skin.  And 
he  went  and  shut  himself  up  in  a  deserted  temple 
of  Maheshwara,  that  stands  in  a  wood,  outside 
his  capital,  on  the  edge  of  a  sacred  lotus  pool. 
And  there  he  lives  like  an  ascetic,  cutting  himself 
off  from  the  conversation  of  men,  so  that  even  his 
ministers  can  scarcely  see  him  on  important  busi- 
ness of  State.  And  it  was  long  before  I  could 
even  manage  to  advise  him  of  my  coming,  and 
your  proposal.  But  at  last,  he  sent  for  me, 
having  learned  of  my  presence  through  his  prime 
minister.  So  they  led  me  to  the  temple  in  the 
early  morning.  And  as  I  stood  waiting  before  it, 
suddenly  I  saw  the  lotuses  of  the  pool  opening, 
one  after  another,  at  the  touch  of  the  early  sim; 
and  at  the  same  instant,  the  young  King  came 
out  before  the  temple,  and  stood  on  the  steps 

>  A  proof  of  great  and  unustial  delicacy  or  self-control  in 
an  Eastern  potentate. 


A  Political  Alliance  147 

leading  down  into  the  pool.  And  he  looked  like 
a  great  ruby,  for  the  sun's  rays  lit  up  the  red 
bark  garments  in  which  he  was  dressed  and  edged 
them  with  a  fringe  of  flame:  and  I  was  amazed 
at  the  sight  of  him,  for  he  seemed  like  a  King 
even  among  Kings.  And  he  said  to  me,  in  deep 
tones  ' :  Go  back  to  thy  master,  and  tell  him  that 
for  the  good  of  my  kingdom  and  his  own,  I  will 
accept  his  offer:  and  there  shall  be  peace  and 
friendship  between  us,  and  union  cemented  by 
the  gift  of  his  daughter:  whom  I  will  treat  roy- 
ally, and  as  becomes  a  queen.  But  not  as  a  wife : 
for  after  we  have  perambulated  the  fire  together, 
let  her  live  in  her  own  palace,  and  forget  that  I 
am  alive. 

But  when  the  envoy  had  got  so  far  in  his  tale, 
the  King  exclaimed  in  anger:  What!  does  he 
dare  to  make  such  terms,  and  send  such  an  an- 
swer, and  dishonour  me  and  my  daughter  by  such 
a  proposal?  Then  hearing  him  speak,  his  daugh- 
ter, sitting  beside  him,  began  to  laugh.  And  she 
said :  O  my  father,  how  is  it,  that  with  such  grey 
hairs,  thou  understandest  nothing,  neither  of  men, 
nor  of  women,  nor  of  policy,  nor  of  me?'  Then 
the  King  said :  My  daughter,  what  are  these  words  ? 
And  what  dost   thou  understand  of  men  or  of 

«  According  to  the  Hindoos,  a  deep-toned  (gambhira)  voice 
is  a  special  note  of  manliness  and  wisdom. 


148  A  Heifer  of  the  Dawn 

policy,  or  even  of  women  and  thyself,  who  art 
but  fifteen  ^  years  old?  Then  his  daughter  said: 
Here,  in  this  matter,  all  has  gone  well,  and  turned 
out  according  to  thy  wish;  and  yet  thou  art 
ready  to  throw  away  all  the  advantages  to  thy 
realm,  by  rejecting  the  proposal  of  my  husband, 
which  is  as  it  should  be.  Then  the  King  said: 
How  is  it  well,  and  not  rather  very  ill?  and  how 
shall  such  a  husband  obtain  thee,  who  proposes 
not  to  treat  thee  as  his  wife?  and  what  is  this 
absurdity  that  thou  speakest? 

Then  his  daughter  got  up  and  stood  before  him. 
And  she  clapped  her  hands  together,  till  her 
bangles  rang,  and  stamped  her  little  foot  on  the 
ground,  till  it  left  a  red  print  upon  the  inlaid 
floor,2  and  her  anklets  clashed;  and  her  mouth 
curled  like  Kama's  bow,  as  if  to  discharge  the 
scornful  arrows  of  her  words.  And  she  exclaimed : 
Didst  thou  understand  policy,  thou  wouldst  not 
abandon  an  advantageous  alliance  from  anger 
springing  out  of  personal  considerations:  didst 
thou  understand  men,  thou  wouldst  have  per- 
ceived, from  the  answer  of  my  husband,  that  he 
is,  as  the  envoy  has  said,  an  elephant  among  men, 

»  Women  are  women  very  early  in  the  East.  But  the 
ntimber  fifteen  had  formerly  a  significance  analogous  to  that 
of  our  own  "sweet  sixteen,"  as  is  well  observed  by  A.  V. 
W.  Jackson  of  the  old  Iranians.      (Avesta  Reader,  p.  44.) 

2  Because  her  feet  were  reddened  with  lac. 


A  Political  Alliance  149 

and  worthy  of  thee  and  me:  didst  thou  under- 
stand women,  thou  wouldst  know,  that  he  who 
has  never  tasted  their  nectar,  may  pass  even  his 
whole  life  without  ever  knowing  its  sweetness, 
but  that  he  who  has  tasted  it  once,  will  taste  it 
again,  though  gods  and  demons  should  stand  in 
his  way  to  prevent  him:  and  didst  thou  under- 
stand me,  thou  wouldst  know  that  I  will  have 
this  husband,  and  he  shall  have  me,  on  any  con- 
ditions whatever;  and  like  a  snake-charmer,  I 
will  soothe  him  and  wile  him  by  my  jugglery  and 
the  cunning  of  my  voice  till  he  will  dance  ^  as  I 
please.  Out  on  her  who  cannot  cajole  her  own 
husband !  Then  said  the  King :  Daughter,  doubt- 
less thou  art  a  very  piindit,  and  thy  pretty  head 
is  full  of  the  sciences,  though  how  they  got  there 
at  thy  age,  only  the  Creator  can  tell:  none  the 
less  thou  art  still  very  yotmg ;  and  in  this  matter 
of  husbands,  and  their  management  and  cajolery, 
thou  hast  still  to  learn  grammar.  2  Then  his 
daughter  laughed.  And  she  exclaimed:  O  my 
father,  art  thou  really  my  father?  Dost  thou 
think  that  the  craft  of  a  woman  in  the  art  which 
is  her  own  comes  to  her  by  age  and  experience, 

>  The  cobra  sits  up,  dances,  and  bows  its  head,  when  the 
juggler  plays  to  it. 

*  Grammar  was  called,  by  the  old  Hindoos,  the  door  of 
all  the  sciences ;  and  they  studied  it  sometimes  for  years  and 
often  all  their  life  long. 


150  A  Heifer  of  the  Dawn 

which  on  the  contrary  rather  take  it  away?  Did 
the  Creator  teach  the  spider  to  make  webs,  and 
the  bee  to  make  honey,  and  the  lotus  to  bloom? 
and  did  he  give  its  wisdom  to  the  elephant,  and 
yet  leave  woman  devoid  of  the  skill  proper  to  her 
nature?  Know,  that  I  will  take  this  burden  off 
thy  shoulders  and  lay  it  on  my  own,  and  bring 
the  matter  to  a  successful  issue,  for  thee,  and  also 
for  my  husband,  and  for  myself.  Send  thy  en- 
voy, and  accept  his  proposal.  And  send  me  also 
to  him,  as  quickly  as  possible:  and  in  the  mean- 
while, I  will  send  him,  by  the  mouth  of  thy  envoy, 
a  message  on  my  own  account. 

So  the  King  yielded  to  her,  for  by  reason  of  his 
own  stupidity  and  his  affection  for  her,  he  could 
not  oppose  her.  And  he  sent  accordingly  a  mes- 
sage to  his  son-in-law,  saying:  I  have  accepted 
thy  terms  and  am  sending  thee  my  daughter  with 
her  retinue  together  with  the  new  moon.  And  I 
wish  thee  good  fortune,  and  a  change  of  disposi- 
tion. And  when  the  envoy  was  about  to  depart, 
the  King's  daughter  said  to  him :  Say  to  my  hus- 
band these  words,  and  beware  lest  thou  add  to 
them  or  take  away  one :  Thy  female  slave  is  com- 
ing to  thee  with  the  new  moon,  anJ,  has  noted  all 
her  lord's  commands.  And  the  tim£  of  her  arrival 
he  shall  learn  by  the  mouth  of  a  mediator:  but  his 
eye  shall  not  be  offended  by  her  presence,  nor  his 


A  Political  Alliance  151 

ear  by  her  conversation,  till  he  shall  ask  for  it  of 
his  own  accord. 

So  the  envoy  went,  and  carried  to  the  yoiing 
King  the  message  of  his  father-in-law,  and  of  his 
future  queen.  But  when  the  young  King  heard 
her  message,  he  said  to  himself:  Her  words  are 
soft,  and  cimning,  and  like  butter  to  the  ear ;  but 
she  is  a  woman:  let  not  even  her  shadow  come 
near  me.  And  he  remained  in  the  deserted  tem- 
ple, which  resembled  the  ruin  of  his  own  life, 
expecting  and  yet  shimning  the  arrival  of  his 
queen. 

Then  after  a  while  came  the  last  day  of  the 
dark  fortnight,  and  the  eve  of  the  new  moon  ' ; 
and  with  it  came  the  King's  daughter,  with  her 
retinue.  And  she  pitched  her  camp  outside  the 
city,  close  to  the  wood  in  which  stood  the  de- 
serted temple,  where  the  King,  her  husband,  had 
fixed  his  abode. 

*  An  important  day  among  the  Hindoos,  with  a  name  of 
its  own  {amdwasi). 


The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 


553 


MANGO 

Then  in  the  early  morning,  on  the  first  day  of 
the  light  fortnight,  the  young  King  arose  before 
the  sun,  and  went  out  of  the  temple,  and  wan- 
dered on  the  steps  that  went  down  into  the  pool, 
in  which  all  the  lotuses  were  preparing  to  welcome 
their  lover,  as  he  rose  from  behind  the  eastern 
mountain.  And  as  he  looked  through  the  trees, 
suddenly  he  saw  coming  towards  him  with  twink- 
ling feet  along  the  edge  of  the  pool,  a  chiti}  re- 
sembling an  incarnation  of  the  night  of  new  moon, 
for  like  it,  she  was  clothed  in  dark  blue,  and  she 
carried  in  her  hand  a  mango  blossom,  as  it  carries 
the  digit  of  the  moon.  And  while  the  King 
turned  from  her,  with  aversion  and  surprise,  she 
came  up,  and  stood  a  little  way  off,  and  said :  O 
King,  my  mistress  has  arrived,  and  sends  me  to 
advise  you,  according  to  her  promise;  craving 
forgiveness  for  that  her  messenger  is  perforce  a 

>  In  all  Hindoo  love  stories,  the  ch6ti  or  sakhl,  a  hand- 
maiden, or  female  confidante,  is  a  sine  qud  -non.  All  messages, 
all  business,  and  even  all  conversation,  is  transacted  through 
her,  for  the  heroine  never  even  speaks  for  herself,  but  re- 
quires a  mouthpiece:  being  prevented  from  speaking  by 
bashfulness,  timidity,  custom,  and  her  own  agitation. 

155 


1 56        The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 

woman,  since  her  confidante  cannot  be  a  man. 
And  she  sends  her  lord,  by  these  unworthy  hands, 
this  flower,  and  if  his  slumbers  have  been  sweet, 
it  is  well  with  her. 

Then  the  King  said:  Cheti,  take  my  acknow- 
ledgment to  thy  mistress,  for  her  message  and 
her  flower:  and  tell  her  that  sleep  is  for  those 
only,  who  like  herself  have  had  no  dealings  with 
the  world;  but  for  a  sick  man,  the  only  remedy 
for  a  night  without  slumber  is  dawn.  Then  the 
cheti  said:  Thou  art  deceived:  there  are  other 
and  better  remedies.  I  know  both  thy  disease 
and  its  cure.  And  the  King  looked  at  her  in  sur- 
prise, and  said:  Damsel,  thou  art  too  forward, 
after  the  manner  of  thy  kind,  and  thy  sex.  Then 
said  the  cheti:  Ha!  King:  dost  thou  really  know 
anything  of  my  sex,  and  yet  hast  thou  made  a 
prisoner  of  thyself  in  this  lonely  old  temple, 
grieving  over  so  insignificant  and  inevitable  a 
thing  as  the  fickleness  of  a  woman?  Know,  that 
once  there  was  a  King,  like  thyself,  young  and  in- 
experienced in  the  ways  of  the  world,  who,  like 
thee,  had  a  wife  that  he  loved:  but  she  died. 
And  Hke  thee,  he  abandoned  the  world,  with  its 
business  and  its  pleasures,  and  went  and  lived  by 
himself,  as  thou  dost,  in  just  such  another  old 
temple  in  a  wood  as  this,  devouring  his  own  heart 
in  despair.     And  when  no  one  could  persuade  him 


Mango  157 

to  return  to  life  and  his  kingly  duties,  at  last 
there  came  to  see  him,  not  a  young  and  frivolous 
maid  like  myself,  but  a  wrinkled  old  rishi,  the 
spiritual  preceptor  of  his  family.  And  he  came 
to  the  King,  who  was  clothed  as  thou  art  in  gar- 
ments of  bark,  and  stood  beside  him,  without 
uttering  a  word.  So  as  they  stood  silently  to- 
gether, suddenly  there  fell  to  the  ground  the 
withered  leaf  of  a  bamboo  tree,  just  as  yonder 
yellow  leaf  is  now  fluttering  down  into  the  still 
water  of  the  pool.  And  instantly,  seeing  the  leaf 
fall,  that  old  preceptor  raised  a  howl  of  sorrow. 
And  throwing  himself  upon  the  ground,  he  tore 
his  clothes  and  his  hair,  and  poured  dust  over  his 
head  with  both  hands.  Then  the  King  said: 
Father,  what  is  this  sudden  access  of  sorrow? 
The  preceptor  said:  Woe!  woe!  didst  thou  not 
mark  the  leaf  fall  from  the  tree?  And  the  King 
wondered,  and  said:  Holy  man,  surely  thou  art 
overtaken  by  folly.  Is  thy  extraordinary  grief 
suited  to  the  fall  of  a  leaf  from  a  tree  ?  Then  said 
the  old  rishi:  O  King,  thine  is  the  folly.  Dost 
thou  accuse  me  of  folly,  in  bewailing  the  fall  of  a 
leaf,  who  forsakest  life  for  the  death  of  a  woman, 
a  thing  in  all  respects  exactly  the  same?  For 
what  is  the  death  of  a  mortal  woman,  but  the  fall 
of  a  leaf  from  the  tree  of  humanity?  *     And  what, 

^  UiTf  Ttsp  (pvWooy  yeyerj,  roitfde  xai  avSpoov. 


158        The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 

0  King,  is  thy  folly  in  forsaking  all  for  the  sake 
of  the  fickleness  of  a  woman  ?  Are  not  women  by 
nature  more  fickle  than  the  very  leaves  of  the 
bamboo?  And  wilt  thou  plunge  into  the  sea  of 
infinite  sorrow,  because,  after  its  kind,  the  bam- 
boo leaf  has  fluttered  into  the  pool? 

Then  she  laid  at  his  feet  the  mango  flower,  and 
turned,  and  went  away  quickly  through  the  wood, 
and  vanished  among  its  trees.  But  the  King 
stood  in  astonishment,  looking  after  her  as  she 
went.  And  his  eyes,  as  if  rebels  to  his  will,  re- 
flected in  spite  of  him  the  grace  of  her  figure, 
bending  and  swaying  like  a  swan  gliding  over  a 
pool.  Then  he  stooped  down,  and  picked  up  the 
flower,  and  smelled  it.  And  he  said :  Mango,  very 
sweet  is  thy  smell,  and  musical  was  the  voice  of 
this  audacious  damsel,  arguing  for  her  mistress: 
but  she  is  a  woman,  and  well  she  said,  convict- 
ing herself,  that  those  of  her  sex  are  all  light  and 
frivolous  and  flickering  as  the  leaves  of  yonder 
bamboo  that  float  on  the  passing  breeze.     Shall 

1  allow  virtue  to  women,  who  disallow  it  even  in 
themselves?  And  he  threw  the  flower  from  him 
into  the  pool,  and  went  back  into  the  temple  with 
a  ruffled  heart,  to  mourn  through  the  day,  till  the 
coming  of  night. 


Patali  159 

PATALI 

Then  he  tossed  all  night  on  his  bed  of  leaves, 
and  rose  before  the  sun,  and  went  out  and  stood 
on  the  steps  of  the  pool,  watching  the  images  of 
the  last  stars  paling  in  the  mirror  of  its  water 
before  the  advent  of  the  day.  And  he  looked 
and  lo!  out  of  the  trees  again  the  ch^ti  came 
towards  him  with  twinkling  feet,  holding  a  trum- 
pet-flower 1  in  her  hand.  And  she  resembled  the 
sky  before  the  dawn,  touched  with  the  first  streak 
of  red.  So  she  came  up  to  the  King,  and  stood 
near  him,  and  said:  O  King,  my  mistress  sends 
her  lord,  by  these  unworthy  hands,  a  flower,  and 
if  his  slumber  has  been  sound,  it  is  well  with  her. 

Then  the  King  said :  Ch^H,  how  can  he  pass  un- 
troubled nights,  whose  memory  is  haunted  by  the 
injuries  of  a  sex,  even  in  thy  opinion  more  frivol- 
ous than  dry  leaves?  Then  the  cMH  laughed. 
And  she  said :  O  King,  I  am  young,  yet  am  I  older 
than  thou  art.  Dost  thou  think  so  lightly  of  the 
actions  of  women,  and  yet  recollect  and  attach 
weight  to  the  words  of  one  of  the  youngest  of 
them?  And  the  King  was  confused.  And  he 
said:  Maiden,  young  certainly  thou  art,  and  yet 
already  full  of  the  delusive  cunning  of  thy  sex. 
And  if   such  is   the   maid,    what   else    can   the 

«  Pdtali.     Its  colour  is  pale  red. 


i6o        The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 

mistress  be  ?  Then  the  ch^ti  was  delighted.  And 
she  exclaimed:  She  is  a  woman;  is  not  that 
enough  for  thee?  Are  they  not  all  without  ex- 
ception like  bamboo  leaves,  frivolous,  and  like 
their  stalks,  hollow?  And  yet,  judge  not  all 
flowers  according  to  thy  experience  of  the  weed. 
For  though  I  and  others  are  but  weeds,  yet  is 
my  mistress  like  this  glorious  trumpet-flower.  O 
King,  art  thou  so  simple  as  to  think  that  the 
Creator,  who  in  making  all  flowers  equally 
flowers,  nevertheless  gave  to  each  its  own  pecul- 
iarity, was  so  left-handed  as  to  make  all  women 
identical?  Truly,  thou  art  but  a  poor  judge. 
For  some,  like  this  pdtali,  are  glorious  to  look  at, 
whereas  others,  like  yesterday's  mango,  are  loaded 
with  fragrance.  Like  her,  whose  husband  once 
went  upon  a  journey  and  never  returned.  And 
year  followed  year,  and  still  he  never  came.  And 
every  day  in  all  those  years  she  was  pestered  by 
suitors,  that,  attracted  like  bees  by  her  beauty, 
came  on  ever  more  keenly  the  more  she  drove 
them  away.  Then  one  night  she  took  a  lamp 
and  filled  it  with  oil,  and  a  wick,  and  went  down 
to  the  bank  of  Ganges,  saying  to  herself:  I  will 
light  it,  and  set  it  afloat  upon  the  river.  And  the 
flame  is  the  life  of  my  husband.  Therefore  if  it 
goes  out,  or  sinks,  I  will  put  also  an  end  to  my 
life,  since  he  will  be  dead.     But  if  it  floats,  I  will 


Patali  i6i 

wait  and  endure,  for  I  shall  know  that  he  will  re- 
turn. So  she  did.  Now  that  night  there  was  a 
high  wind,  which  blew  furiously;  and  the  waves 
of  Ganges  were  like  those  of  the  sea.  But  not- 
withstanding, she  lit  her  lamp,  and  pushed  it  out 
upon  the  river:  for  her  faith  ^  was  very  strong. 
And  at  that  moment  the  Sky,  with  all  its  myriad 
stars  for  eyes,  was  looking  down  at  her.  And 
when  it  saw  her  little  lamp,  it  laughed  in  scorn, 
and  said:  See  what  a  miserable  taper  yonder 
poor  mortal  woman  calls  a  lamp!  But  Mahesh- 
wara  heard  the  brag.  And  suddenly,  by  his 
power,  he  created  a  calm.  Then  the  waves  of 
Ganges  sank  to  sleep,  and  on  her  2  still  bosom 
floated  the  little  lamp,  with  a  flame  that  never 
wavered:  and  in  the  silent  mirror  of  her  waters 
appeared  another  sky  and  other  stars,  in  mimicry 
of  those  above.  Then  said  the  kindly  God:  Sky, 
seest  thou  yonder  sky  with  all  its  stars  below? 
And  the  Sky  answered :  Aye :  but  that  sky  with 
its  stars  is  but  an  illusion.  And  Maheshwara 
laughed.  And  he  said:  Thou  foolish  Sky,  know, 
that  thou  art  thyself,  with  all  thy  stars,  no  less  an 

>  The  reader  vinacquainted  with  Hindoo  literature  may 
possibly  see  in  this  a  Christian  idea;  but  it  is  not  so:  or 
rather  it  is  far  more  Indian  than  Christian :  and  the  original 
bhakti  is  stronger  and  far  more  intense  in  its  meaning  than 
our  jaith. 

»  Because  Gangd  is  a  woman. 


i62        The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 

illusion  than  is  that  other  sky  below.  The  sole 
reality  of  all  is  yonder  little  lamp,  that  floats 
midway,  poised  between  the  infinity  above  and 
that  below.  For  it  embodies  the  good  quality  ' 
of  a  faithful  wife. 

So  the  lamp  floated  on,  till  it  went  out  of  sight ; 
and  thereafter  that  woman  regained  her  husband, 
by  the  favour  of  the  God. 

Then  the  cheti  looked  at  the  King  steadily, 
and  laid  the  flower  at  his  feet,  and  went  away. 
And  the  King  looked  after  her  as  she  went :  and 
stood  meditating  long  after  she  was  gone.  And 
then  he  stooped  and  picked  up  the  trumpet- 
flower.  And  he  said:  Pdtali,  exquisitely  lovely 
is  thy  great  crimson  flower :  and  as  for  this  strange 
maiden,  surely  Saraswati  ^  dwells  upon  her  tongue 
But  what  of  that?  Is  she  not  a  woman?  One 
of  those  who  carry  poison  in  their  teeth  under  the 
honey  in  their  lips.  And  he  threw  the  flower, 
with  his  lips  shut,  into  the  pool,  and  went  back 
to  the  temple  with  a  sad  heart,  to  mourn  through 
the  day  and  await  the  coming  of  the  night. 

^  Goodness,  or  sattwa  (the  notin,  of  which  sati,  a  word 
familiar  to  all  English  readers  in  connection  with  widow 
burning,  is  the  adjective)  is  one  of  the  three  great  Qualities : 
Passion  and  Darkness  being  the  other  two.  Sattwa  alone  is 
real:  that  which  is  {sat).  But  the  play  on  wife  and  goodness 
cannot  be  rendered  in  English. 

*  The  goddess  of  eloquence. 


Jasmine  163 

JASMINE. 

Then  he  tossed  all  night  on  his  bed  of  leaves, 
and  in  the  morning  rose,  and  went  out  upon  the 
steps,  just  as  the  young  sun  was  flooding  with  gold 
the  blue  floor  of  the  eastern  sky.  And  as  he  stood 
watching,  suddenly  the  cheti  came  again  towards 
him  with  twinkling  feet,  holding  a  jasmine  '  blos- 
som in  her  hand.  And  as  he  looked  at  her,  the 
King  was  pleased,  against  his  will:  for  she  re- 
sembled in  her  movements  an  incarnation  of  the 
sap  of  the  tree  of  youth.  And  she  came  up  to  the 
King,  and  looked  at  him  with  a  smile,  and  said: 
O  King,  my  mistress  sends  her  lord,  by  these  im- 
worthy  hands,  a  flower,  and  if  he  has  slumbered 
well  during  the  night,  it  is  also  well  with  her. 

Then  the  King  smiled  himself,  and  was  angry 
that  he  did  so.  And  he  said:  Cheti,  how  can  he 
enjoy  repose,  that  is  compelled,  against  his  will,  to 
deal  with  such  a  sex  as  thine  ?  For  whether  they 
are  good  or  bad,  either  way  they  ruffle  and  destroy 
his  peace  of  mind. 

Then  the  ch^ti  laughed.  And  she  looked  at  the 
King  with  the  laughter  hanging  in  her  subtle  eyes : 
and  said:  O  King,  thou  art  gaining  wisdom,  by 
associating  with  those  only  that  can  teach  it: 
for  even  I  am  not  utterly  devoid  of  the  natural 

I  Mdlati. 


1 64        The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 

cleverness  of  my  sex,  though  I  am  only  just  fifteen. 
And  now  I  see  that  thy  opinion  of  us  all  is  be- 
ginning to  waver :  since  to-day  thou  art  willing  to 
allow  in  some  of  us  were  it  only  the  possibility  of 
good.  And  I  wonder  by  what  cause  this  sudden 
change  can  have  been  produced.  And  hearing 
her,  the  King  was  annoyed:  for  he  had  deter- 
mined, that  he  would  not  take  pleasure  in  con- 
versing with  her:  and  yet  he  could  not  help  it. 
And  he  said:  Of  that  which  has  not  happened, 
there  is  no  cause:  and  my  opinions  are  to-day 
just  what  they  were  before,  and  so  am  I.  But 
the  cheti  looked  at  him  with  a  smile.  And  she 
said:  Nay,  it  is  not  so:  the  outward  signs  are 
immistakable.  I  can  read  them  on  thee  as  if 
what  is  written  there  were  only  my  own  name. 
Then  the  King  fell  into  the  trap.  And  he  said: 
And  what,  then,  is  thy  name?  The  chSti  said: 
I  am  called  Madhupamanjari.'  And  the  King 
said :  Thou  art  well  named.  Then  she  said :  How 
canst  thou  tell?  Dost  thou  know  what  I  am 
like?  Wilt  thou  judge  the  inside  by  the  outside? 
Canst  thou  infer  its  delicious  content  from  the 
rough  and  horrid  jacket  of  the  nut?  Then  the 
King  smiled.  And  he  said:  Maiden,  thy  simile 
is  not  appropriate.      What  resemblance  is  there 

*  7.  e.,  "  a  clvister  of  blossoms  for  the  honey  drinkers,"  the 
bees.     (The  fotirth  syllable  rhymes  with  "  gun.") 


Jasmine  165 

between  the  exterior  of  an  ugly  nut  and  thine? 
Then  the  cheii  clapped  her  hands.  And  she  ex- 
claimed :  O  King,  wilt  thou  never  learn  discretion? 
Hast  thou  so  soon  forgotten?  Dost  thou  not 
know  by  experience  that  an  outside,  let  it  be 
never  so  sweet,  may  contain  but  a  bitter  juice 
within?  Little  canst  thou  estimate  from  my 
outside,  what  qualities  there  are  within.  And 
yet  know,  that  if  my  mistress  loves  me  better 
than  all  her  other  maids,  it  is  not  for  my  husk, 
but  for  my  kernel.  For  I  learned  wisdom  from 
a  cimning  master,  and  what  I  could  teach  thee, 
thou  wouldst  give  much  to  know.  And  I  could 
tell  thee  stories  that  would  make  thee  laugh  at  all 
thy  trouble,  and  take  thee  to  a  land  of  which  thou 
hast  never  even  dreamed:  where  the  trees  have 
ever  blossoms,  and  are  noisy  with  the  humming 
of  intoxicated  bees:  where  by  day  the  suns  are 
never  burning,  and  by  night  the  moonstones  ooze 
with  nectar  in  the  rays  of  the  camphor-laden  moon : 
where  the  blue  lakes  are  filled  with  rows  of  silver 
swans,  and  where,  on  steps  of  lapis-lazuli,  the  pea- 
cocks dance  in  agitation  at  the  murmur  of  the 
thimder  in  the  hills :  where  the  Hghtning  flashes 
without  harming,  to  light  the  way  to  women, 
stealing  in  the  darkness  to  meetings  with  their 
lovers,  and  the  rainbow  hangs  for  ever  like  an 
opal   on   the   dark   blue    curtain   of  the   clouds: 


i66        The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 

where,  on  the  moonlit  roofs  of  crystal  palaces, 
pairs  of  lovers  laugh  at  the  reflection  of  each 
other's  lovesick  faces  in  goblets  of  red  wine: 
breathing  as  they  drink  air  heavy  with  the  fra- 
grance of  the  sandal,  wafted  on  the  breezes  from 
the  mountain  of  the  south :  where  they  play  and 
pelt  each  other  with  emeralds  and  rubies,  fetched 
at  the  churning  of  the  ocean  from  the  bottom  of 
the  sea:  where  rivers,  whose  sands  are  always 
golden,  flow  slowly  past  long  lines  of  silent  cranes 
that  hunt  for  silver  fishes  in  the  rushes  on  their 
banks:  where  men  are  true,  and  maidens  love 
for  ever,  and  the  lotus  never  fades. 

And  as  he  listened,  tears  started  from  the  eyes 
of  the  King.  And  he  exclaimed:  Aye!  maiden, 
take  me,  if  thou  canst,  to  the  land  where  love 
grows  never  old.  But  the  cheti  looked  at  him  with 
kind  eyes.  And  she  laid  the  jasmine  blossom 
at  his  feet,  and  turned,  and  went  away  quickly 
through  the  trees:  while  the  King  watched  her 
till  she  vanished  from  his  sight.  And  then  he 
stooped  and  picked  up  the  jasmine  flower.  And 
he  said:  Mdlati,  thy  fragrance  is  sweet  beyond 
comparison,  and  yet  it  is  not  so  delicious  as  the 
music  of  this  little  maiden's  voice.  And  yet  alas! 
she  is  a  woman.  Out,  out  upon  these  women! 
For  I  thought  I  had  succeeded  in  uprooting  the 
very  seeds  of  their  attraction  from  my  heart :  and 


A  Flowerless  Dawn  167 

now  there  comes  this  pretty  cJieti  and  destroys 
all  my  operations  with  a  few  honied  words  breathed 
through  the  door  of  her  cunning  scented  lips. 
Then  he  looked  at  the  flower  and  the  pool.  And 
he  said :  Flower,  I  will  not  throw  thee  away  till 
thou  art  faded,  for  that  would  be  a  shame.  And 
he  went  back  to  the  temple,  with  the  flower  in 
his  hand,  divided  in  his  mind  between  the  recol- 
lection of  the  cheti  and  the  recollection  of  his 
grief. 

A  FLOWERLESS  DAWN. 

Then  he  tossed  all  night  upon  his  bed  of  leaves, 
and  in  the  morning  he  rose,  and  went  out  upon 
the  steps,  and  stood  on  the  edge  of  the  pool,  listen- 
ing to  the  birds  in  the  trees  beginning  to  awake, 
and  to  salute  by  their  songs  the  advent  of  the  lord 
of  the  day.  And  as  he  stood,  he  looked  along  the 
edge  of  the  pool,  and  through  the  trees,  but  he 
saw  no  clieti  coming  towards  him,  and  he  remained 
alone  with  the  pool  and  its  k^tuses  and  the  trees. 

Then  after  a  while  he  said  to  himself :  DoubtleSxS 
she  has  fallen  asleep,  or  risen  late,  or  it  may  be 
that  her  mistress  required  her  services :  or  ])ossibly 
she  could  not  find  a  flower.  But  the  day  grew 
older,  and  still  she  did  not  come.  And  at  last, 
he  said  to  himself:   What  is  it  to  me,  whether  she 


1 68        The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 

comes  or  does  not  come?  Are  not  these  trees, 
and  this  pool,  still  what  they  were  before  she 
came  into  the  wood?  and  can  I  not  pass  my  day 
with  them  for  my  companions,  as  I  did  before? 
So  he  wandered  up  and  down  on  the  edge  of  the 
pool.  But  no  matter  what  he  did,  his  eyes,  as  if 
in  spite  of  him,  kept  looking  to  the  quarter  from 
which  she  was  accustomed  to  appear. 

And  then  at  last,  he  said  to  himself :  Something 
is  surely  wanting,  this  morning,  to  the  beauty  of 
this  wood :  and  yet  it  is  very  strange.  For  here 
are  the  trees,  and  the  temple,  and  the  pool  with 
its  lotuses,  and  the  dawn:  and  nothing  is  other 
than  it  was,  save  that  the  cheti  and  her  flower  have 
not  come.  Nothing  is  gone,  but  a  woman  and  a 
flower.  And  can  it  be,  that  their  absence  alone 
should  make  such  a  difference  to  the  wood  ?  Then 
he  sat  down  on  the  steps,  and  gazed  into  the  pool. 
And  he  said :  Aye !  but  the  flower  was  very  sweet. 
And  the  woman?  Nay!  she  is  not  a  woman,  but 
a  child.  And  yet  again,  no,  rather  is  she  poised, 
like  dusk,  and  like  dawn,  on  the  boimdary  of  two 
conditions,  sharing  the  beauty  and  qualities  of 
both,  and  yet  possessing  a  third  belonging  to 
neither.  For  she  is  half  a  child  and  half  a  woman, 
and  she  resembles  those  flowers  that  she  carries 
in  her  hand,  buds  newly  opened  in  the  dawn. 
And  like  them,  she  carries  with  her  a  fragrance 


A  Flowerless  Dawn  169 

of  her  own,  yet  in  this  she  is  superior,  that  she 
possesses  motion  and  a  voice:  while  they  are 
silent,  and  rooted  to  the  ground.  And  the  sight 
of  her  coming  towards  me  in  the  morning  with 
nimble  feet  that  seem  as  if  they  were  rejoicing, 
wrapped  in  her  dark  blue  mantle  that  like  the 
mist  upon  a  mountain  only  renders  more  beautiful 
the  outline  of  that  which  it  ineffectually  conceals, 
lingers  in  the  recesses  of  my  eye,  and  refuses  to 
disappear:  and  like  one  that  has  loitered  on  the 
hills  in  the  season  of  the  rains,  the  noise  of  the 
murmur  of  her  voice  hangs  like  that  of  water  in 
my  ear,  and  mixes  with  the  silence  of  the  wood. 
Oh!  there  is  magic  in  the  music  of  her  voice,  for  it 
is  low,  and  sweeter  than  honey,'  and  carries  in  it 
whispers  that  snare  and  take  prisoner  the  listening 
soul,  and  distract  it  from  attending  to  the  mean- 
ing of  her  words.  And  even  now,  it  rustles  in  my 
memory  like  a  breeze  in  the  branches  of  a  young 
bamboo,  which  sigh  and  ring  with  its  echo,  even 
after  it  is  gone.  For,  alas!  it  is  gone,  and  now  I 
must  wait  till  to-morrow  before  it  comes  again. 
And  yet,  who  knows  ?  for  something  may  prevent 
her  from  returning,  and  to-morrow  again  she  may 
be  absent,  just  as  she  was  to-day.  And  he  spent 
that  day  in  wandering  about,   dissatisfied,  and 

'  Kalidas,  who  was  a  judge  in  these  matters,  resembled 
Shakespeare  in  his  love  for  the  low  and  gen  tie  voice  (wa/gMwdfe). 


I  ^o        The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 

hoping  for  the  morrow,  and  yet  fearing,  lest  even 
then  she  should  not  reappear. 

CHAMPAK. 

Then  all  night  long,  he  tossed  on  his  bed  of 
leaves,  and  in  the  morning  he  arose  very  early, 
long  before  the  sun,  and  went  out  upon  the  steps, 
and  stood  waiting.  And  he  looked  up,  and  saw 
in  the  air  high  above  him  a  row  of  swans,  flying 
swiftly  to  the  north,  with  bodies  that  gleamed 
ruddy  in  the  beams  of  the  day-star  still  hidden 
behind  the  eastern  mountain.  And  then  at  last 
the  sun  rose,  and  at  that  moment  he  looked,  and 
saw  the  chHi  once  more  coming  rapidly  towards 
him.  And  she  seemed  in  his  eyes  like  an  incar- 
nation of  the  dew  of  the  morning,  and  like  an 
emblem  of  the  love  that  was  rising  from  its  ashes 
in  his  own  heart,  embodied  in  a  feminine  form. 
And  she  carried  in  her  hand  a  champak  flower; 
and  she  came  up  to  the  King,  perfuming  the  air, 
and  said :  O  King,  my  mistress  sends  her  lord,  by 
these  unworthy  hands,  a  flower,  and  if  he  has  en- 
joyed good  repose,  it  is  well  with  her. 

Then  the  King  said :  Dear  cketi,  how  can  he  en- 
joy repose,  whose  friends  desert  him?  And  she 
said:  O  King,  if  his  friends  abandon  him,  the 
fault  is  his  own,  who  had  not  discrimination  suffi- 


Champak  171 

cient  to  discern  the  false  from  the  true.  And  the 
King  sighed.  And  he  said:  Alas!  it  is  hard  to 
tell.  And  they  are  few  who  in  this  world  of 
illusion  can  detect  and  distinguish  between  the 
good  and  the  bad.  For  baseness  assumes  in- 
numerable disguises,  and  can  present  itself  even 
under  a  form  like  thine.  Then  she  said  with  a 
smile :  O  King,  be  not  too  sure  in  my  case.  And 
the  King  said:  I  am  sure  of  nothing  but  this: 
that  life  is  worthless  when  love  is  gone.  And 
she  said:  That  cannot  go,  which  was  never 
present,  and  love  cannot  have  left  thee,  which 
thou  hast  never  known.  And  the  King  said  in 
astonishment:  And  dost  thou  know  anything  of 
love,  that  art  but  a  child?  Then  she  looked  at 
him  awhile  in  silence.  And  then  she  said:  O 
King,  this  is  a  matter  neither  of  youth  nor  age,  but 
of  inheritance  and  recollection.  For  as  a  rule, 
men  learn  only  by  experience,  and  get  it  only 
when  their  hair  is  grey.  But  there  are  some 
whose  memories  are  very  strong,  and  they  carry 
with  them  knowledge  that  never  leaves  them, 
from  one  birth  to  the  next;  and  are  wise,  by 
reason  of  the  influences  '  that  come  down  to  them 

^  Nothing  is  more  universally  distributed  throughout 
Hindoo  literature  than  this  idea  of  the  overpowering  in- 
fluences of  transmitted  reminiscences  and  consequences  from 
previous  births.  It  is  only  a  profound  truth  in  a  mytho- 
logical form. 


172        The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 

out  of  the  oblivion  of  the  past.  And  of  these 
know  that  I  am  one.  And  what  though  I  am, 
as  thou  sayest,  but  a  child:  yet  in  such  a  case  as 
this,  a  child  may  be  wiser  than  a  king:  and  it 
may  be  that  I  am  wiser  even  than  thou  art.  For 
I  worshipped  in  a  former  birth  the  God  of  the 
flowery-bow,  and  learned  from  his  favour  secrets, 
which  have  bequeathed  to  me  impressions  even 
in  this  birth.  And  now  I  will  tell  thee  a  little  of 
what  thou  dost  not  know.  Love  is  a  triple  cord.' 
And  when  all  three  strands  are  firmly  bound 
together,  then  nothing  can  break  or  end  it,  not 
even  death.  But  if  any  of  the  three  be  taken 
by  itself,  then  it  snaps  under  the  pressure  of  the 
circumstances  and  trials  of  life.  And  thus  it  was 
with  thee.  In  thy  case,  the  three  were  not  com- 
bined :  and  thy  love  was  a  unison  and  not  a  har- 
mony. And  the  King  said :  And  what,  then,  are 
the  three?  Then  she  said:  Three  kinds  of  love 
must  meet  together,  to  make  up  that  which  is 
perfect  and  complete :  that  of  the  body,  and  that 
of  the  intellect,  and  that  of  the  soul.  And  thus 
it  can  exist,  only  between  a  woman  and  a  man. 
For  each  sex  cares  only  for  the  beauty  of  the 
other,  and  is  unconscious  of  its  own:   and  unless 

^  There  is  a  play  on  words  here  which  cannot  be  translated, 
for  guna  means  not  only  a  cord  or  string,  but  also  a  moral 
quality  or  virtue:  and  yet  again,  a  power  or  multiple. 


Champak  173 

there  is  a  difference  of  sex,  there  is  no  bodily 
attraction,  and  thus  one  element  is  wanting. 
And  she,  that  is  to  retain  her  lover's  love  for  ever, 
must  possess,  first,  a  body  without  a  flaw,  or  his 
senses  will  stray  from  her  to  other  bodies ;  for  it 
is  their  nature  to  seek  their  proper  object:  and 
secondly,  intelligence,  or  his  esteem  will  depart 
elsewhere :  and  thirdly,  goodness,  or  his  soul  will 
abandon  her,  in  the  search  for  that  without  which 
it  cannot  do,  and  without  which  the  other  two 
component  parts  are  worthless,  except  for  a  time. 
And  as  it  is  with  the  woman,  so  is  it  for  the  man, 
with  this  difference,  that  their  bodies  and  their 
intelligences  and  their  souls  are  totally  unlike. 
For  that  which  is  virtue  in  a  woman,  may  be  its 
opposite  in  a  man,  and  his  weakness  may  be  her 
strength,  and  even  her  ornament.  But  thou 
wert  foolish  in  not  wisely  choosing  the  proper 
object  of  thy  love.  For  doubtless  she  was  beau- 
tiful, but  that  was  all:  and  now  it  was  surely 
a  good  for  thee,  and  no  harm,  that  she  betrayed 
thee  when  she  did.  For  though  thou  didst  re- 
ceive at  the  moment  a  wound  sharper  than  a 
sword;  yet  time,  and  it  may  be,  circumstance, 
will  heal  it:  and  certainly  time  would  have 
shown  thee  in  her  case  that  elements  were  want- 
ing to  the  perfection  of  thy  love,  and  it  would 
not  have  endured.     And  now  thou  art  free,  and 


1 74        The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 

punished  for  thy  error,  and  wiser:  and  it  befits 
thee  rather  to  rejoice  than  mourn.  For  who 
knows  what  awaits  him  in  the  future?  and  who 
can  expect  to  achieve  the  highest  good  '  who  does 
not  know  what  it  is  Hke  ?  And  thou  wilt  find,  no 
doubt,  the  perfect  trinity  of  love  with  my  mis- 
tress, for  I  would  hope  that  she  is  worthy  of  thee. 

And  as  she  spoke,  the  King  stood  spell-boxmd. 
But  as  she  ended,  he  started  and  exclaimed: 
Away!  speak  not  of  thy  mistress,  for  she  is  a 
matter  of  policy  and  statecraft:  tell  me  only  of 
thyself :  for  surely  thou  art  furnished  with  cords  ^ 
strong  enough  to  make  the  love  of  thee  immortal, 
and  bind  thy  lover  to  thee  with  a  knot  that  will 
never  break.  But  the  cheti  put  her  finger  on  her 
lip.  And  she  shook  her  pretty  head  at  the  King, 
and  said:  Hush!  speak  not  thus  to  me,  or  I  shall 
not  come  again.  And  she  looked  at  him  with  a 
smile,  and  laid  the  flower  at  his  feet,  and  turned 
and  went  away.  But  just  before  she  disappeared, 
she  turned  round,  and  looked  at  the  King,  and 
then  she  entered  the  trees  and  vanished  from  his 
eyes. 

And  the  King  stooped  and  picked  up  the 
flower,  and  put  it  to  his  lips.  And  he  sighed, 
and  said:   Champak,  thy  odour  is  like  the  very 

»  purushdrta — "the  goal  of  man." 
*  Here  again  cords  =  virtues. 


Lotus  175 

essence  of  the  fragrance  of  l()\"e,  and  well  is  it 
suited  to  the  wonls  <.)(  this  irresistible  maiden, 
who  resembles  that  self-sanie  essence  incarnated 
by  the  will  oi  the  Creator,  in  a  wholly  different. 
vet  equally  delicious  form.  And  he  went  baek 
to  the  temple  with  the  flower  in  his  hand,  buried 
in  meditation  on  the  words  of  Madhupamanjari 
and  utterly  oblivious  of  all  else.  For  her  beaut v, 
like  a  cunning  painter  effacing  one  picture  to 
make  room  for  another,  had  obliterated  every 
stain  left  by  gloom\-  recc)llections  on  the  surface 
of  his  soul. 

LOTUS. 

Then  all  night  long,  he  slept  profoundly  on  his 
bed  of  leaves,  and  rose  only  when  the  sun  had 
arisen.  And  wlien  he  went  out,  he  found  the 
chett  standing  waiting  for  him  on  the  edge  of  the 
pool,  with  a  red  lotus  in  lier  hand.  And  she 
seemed  in  his  eyes  like  the  peace  of  his  own  mind 
embodied  in  a  \-isible  form.  And  as  he  went 
towards  her,  she  looked  up,  and  said:  My  mis- 
tress sends  her  Lird,  by  these  unworthy  hands,  a 
flower,  and  if  his  slumbers  have  Ijccn  sweet,  it  is 
well  with  her. 

Then  the  King  said:  Dear  clicti.  lie  sleeps  well 
who  regains  his  tranquillitv :    and  by  thy  favour 


1 76        The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 

I  have  slept  this  night  as  I  have  not  slept  for 
many.  And  she  said :  Whence  has  come  this  new 
tranquillity?  And  the  King  laughed,  and  said: 
A  skilful  physician  administered  to  me  yesterday 
a  drowsy  drug.  Then  she  said:  They  are  for- 
tunate, who  possess  skilful  physicians,  for  they  are 
few.  Then  he  said:  The  drug  that  brought  me 
sleep  was  compounded  of  the  murmur  of  thy  voice 
and  the  nectar  of  the  sight  of  thee.  And  I  begin 
to  hope  that  a  cure  may  be  effected,  for  formerly 
I  thought  my  case  desperate.  Then  Madhupa- 
manjari  began  to  laugh.  And  she  exclaimed:  O 
King,  beware!  Was  it  not  but  a  day  or  two  ago 
that  thou  wast  bringing  charges  of  variability 
against  the  whole  race  of  woman?  And  now  art 
thou  not  becoming  amenable  to  the  same  charge  ? 
Then  the  King  said:  Thou  malicious  cheti,  thou 
knowest  well  that  thou  art  saying  what  is  not  the 
truth,  solely  to  torment  me.  Then  she  said: 
Nay,  but  thou  appearest  to  me  closely  to  re- 
semble the  fisherman,  who  lived  formerly,  in 
another  age  and  country,  by  catching  fish.  And 
one  day  he  threw  his  net  into  the  sea,  and  there 
came  up  in  it  a  beautiful  fish  of  gold.  Then  he 
drew  it  up,  filled  with  joy.  But  just  as  he  was 
going  to  take  it  into  his  hand,  it  jumped  back 
into  the  sea.  Then  he  shed  tears  of  despair,  and 
abandoning  the  sea,  was  ready  to  abandon  the 


Lotus  177 

body.  And  he  exclaimed:  Alas!  my  life  is  over, 
for  it  was  wrapped  up  in  that  fish  of  gold.  Never- 
theless, after  a  while,  he  went  back  to  the  sea, 
and  threw  in  his  net  again :  and  there  came  up  a 
fish  of  silver.  And  instantly  he  forgot  his  fish 
of  gold,  and  eagerly  stretched  out  his  hand  to 
take  the  fish  of  silver.  But  that  also  slid  from 
his  hand  into  the  sea.  And  again  he  gave  him- 
self up  to  despair,  and  quitted  the  shore,  and 
spent  his  time  in  bewailing  his  loss.  Yet  after 
awhile,  he  came  back  again  to  the  sea.  And  he 
threw  in  his  net,  and  lo!  there  came  up  a  common 
fish,  made  of  the  ordinary  flesh  of  fish;  and  he 
took  it  in  his  hand  and  carried  it  away,  and  was 
perfectly  happy,  and  he  utterly  forgot  the  fish 
of  gold,  and  the  fish  of  silver,  as  if  they  had  never 
been. 

Then  the  King  said:  Dear  ch^ti,  I  would  be 
angry  with  thee,  if  I  could,  for  thy  roguery  in 
comparing  me  to  such  a  vile  fisherman.  And  she 
said:  O  King,  beware!  lest  the  parallel  should 
turn  out  to  be  exact.  Then  the  King  said :  Thou 
mayst  liken  me  rather  to  a  fire  which  was  all  but 
extinguished,  and  could  not  be  rekindled,  dis- 
daining as  it  did  every  species  of  common  fuel, 
till  they  offered  it  a  piece  of  heavenly  sandal,  of 
which  even  that  that  grows  on  Malaya  is  but  a 
poor  copy.     And  then  it  blazed  up  from  its  ashes 


1 78        The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 

with  a  pure  flame,  such  as  it  had  never  put  forth 
before. 

Then  she  said:  King,  it  is  time  for  me  to  go. 
And  she  laid  the  lotus  at  his  feet,  and  went  away ; 
but  she  turned  and  looked  back  at  him,  before 
she  disappeared  among  the  trees.  And  the  King 
picked  up  the  lotus,  and  said:  Lotus,  said  I  well, 
that  I  was  fire,  and  she  the  fuel?  Or  is  it  not 
rather  I  that  am  the  fuel,  and  she  that  is  the  fire? 
For  certainly  she  bums  me  like  a  flame,  even  more, 
now  that  she  is  absent,  than  when  she  was  here. 
Therefore,  O  thou  red  lottis,  I  will  carry  thee  about 
all  day,  since  thou  resemblest  a  piece  of  herself 
that  she  has  left  behind,  to  cool  me  in  the  hot 
noon  of  her  absence  like  a  lump  of  snow.  And 
he  went  back  to  the  temple,  with  the  lotus  in  his 
hand,  feeding  on  the  future,  and  forgetftil  of  the 
past. 

SHRIPHALA. 

Then  he  dreamed  of  Madhupamanjari,  all  night 
long,  and  in  the  morning  he  rose  before  the  sun, 
and  went  out.  And  as  he  stood  listening  to  the 
joyous  cries  of  the  chakrawdka  and  his  mate,  meet- 
ing in  the  morning  after  a  night  of  separation,  the 
cheti  came  towards  him  through  the  trees,  holding 
in  her  hand  berries  of  the  shriphala.     And  she 


Shriphala  179 

said:  My  mistress  sends  her  lord,  by  these  un- 
worthy hands,  berries,  and  if  he  has  enjoyed 
sweet  sleep,  it  is  well  with  her. 

Then  the  King  said:  Dear  cheti,  I  cannot  tell 
whether  I  slept  last  night  or  lay  awake :  this  only 
I  know,  that  all  night  I  listened  to  thy  voice  and 
gazed  at  thee :  but  whether  it  was  a  dream  or  not, 
I  cannot  tell.  Then  she  looked  at  him  with  mock 
gravity,  and  said :  These  are  symptoms  very  dan- 
gerous and  alarming  to  the  physician.  Thy  case 
is  parlous,  and  very  similar  to  that  of  the  mad- 
man who  was  enamoured  of  a  stone.  Then  he 
said:  Pretty  cheti,  I  see  no  resemblance  what- 
ever between  a  stone  and  thee.  And  she  said: 
I  can  be  to  thee  no  more  than  a  stone  was  to  him. 
And  the  King  said:  Tell  me  his  story,  for  I  care 
not  whether  it  be  like  my  own,  or  not :  and  in  the 
meantime  I  will  watch  thee,  and  listen  to  thy 
voice.  Then  she  said:  Know  that  there  was  a 
king,  who  hunting  in  the  forest  came  to  an 
ancient  temple,  and  on  its  wall  was  a  stone 
image  of  the  goddess  of  beauty.  And  the  instant 
his  eye  fell  on  it,  he  fell  in  love  with  it  so  violently 
that  he  could  not  tear  himself  away  from  it.  Then 
sending  for  workmen,  he  caused  them  to  extract 
the  image  from  the  wall;  and  carrying  it  away 
with  him,  he  had  it  set  up  in  a  room  in  his  palace. 
And  night  and  day  he  lived  before  it,  never  taking 


i8o        The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 

his  eyes  off  it :  and  he  used  to  kiss  it,  and  caress 
it,  and  upbraid  it  for  not  returning  his  caresses. 
And  one  night,  as  he  lay  asleep,  he  thought  he 
saw  the  goddess  come  down  to  him  out  of  the 
wall,  no  longer  made  of  stone,  but  warm  and 
living  flesh  and  blood.  But  just  as  he  was  going 
to  clasp  her  in  his  arms,  almost  beside  himself 
for  joy,  suddenly  a  watchman  in  the  street 
shouted  and  awoke  him.  Then  in  his  fury,  the 
king  instantly  put  the  watchman  to  death,  and 
banished  every  watchman  in  the  city.  And  he 
spent  the  remainder  of  his  life  vainly  trying  to  re- 
cover in  his  dreams  the  conclusion  of  his  meeting 
with  the  goddess,  and  yet  he  never  could  succeed : 
and  he  was  filled  with  contempt  for  everything 
that  happened  when  he  was  awake,  saying  to  him- 
self: This  whole  world  is  like  the  stone,  a  mere 
lifeless  copy  of  that  real  original  which  I  foimd 
that  time,  by  the  favour  of  the  deity,  in  my 
dream.  And  surely  he  is  mad,  who  pursues  all 
his  life  a  thing  inaccessible  to  him  even  in  a 
dream:  and  such  am  I  to  thee;  and  thou  wilt 
surely  resemble  him,  if  forgetting  my  mistress, 
thou  allowest  thy  fancy  to  fix  on  an  object  for- 
bidden to  thee.  O  King,  is  it  not  true,  and  is 
not  the  comparison  exact? 

Then  the  King  said :  I  do  not  know :  I  have  not 
heard  thy  tale;    for  I  was  wholly  occupied  in 


Shirisha  i8i 

watching  thy  lips,  and  I  marvel  that  I  never 
noticed  them  before.  Tell  me  again,  and  I  will 
shut  my  eyes ;  so  that  thy  beauty  shall  not  inter- 
fere, and  keep  me  from  comprehending  the  mean- 
ing of  thy  words.  And  she  laughed,  and  said: 
Surely  I  am  right,  and  thy  wits  are  deserting 
thee.  And  she  laid  the  berries  at  his  feet,  and 
went  away,  without  looking  back,  and  was  lost 
among  the  trees.  But  the  King  stooped,  and 
picked  up  the  berries.  And  he  said:  Berries,  ye 
are  well  named.'  Did  ye  acquire  merit  in  a 
former  birth,  that  ye  were  privileged  to  be 
plucked  from  the  tree  and  carried  in  her  hand, 
while  your  brothers  and  sisters  were  left  discon- 
solate and  unhappy  on  the  tree?  And  he  went 
back  to  the  temple,  holding  them  in  his  hand, 
haunted  by  the  memory  of  her  lips,  whose  colour 
they  resembled,  to  wait  for  another  dawn. 

SHIRISHA. 

And  they  hovered  before  him  as  he  slept  aU 
night  on  his  bed  of  leaves,  and  in  the  morning  he 
rose  before  the  sun,  and  went  out  and  stood  on  the 
brink  of  the  pool.  And  as  he  gazed  at  its  surface, 
which  was  dotted  with  lotuses  Hke  a  panther's 

^  Shriphala;  i.e.,  the  fruit  of  the  goddess  of  beauty  and 
good  fortune. 


i82        The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 

skin,  there  entered  into  his  heart  a  doubt,  like  the 
shadow  of  the  bats  that  were  taking  their  last 
flight  over  the  water  before  the  dawn.  And  he 
said  to  himself:  O,  she  is  beautiful,  but  alas!  she 
is  a  woman :  have  I  done  well  in  allowing  her  to 
steal  entrance  like  these  bats,  into  my  heart? 
And  that  instant,  he  saw  her  coming  towards 
him,  with  a  shirisha  flower  in  her  hand.  And  she 
came  to  him,  and  said:  My  mistress  sends  her 
lord,  by  these  unworthy  hands,  a  flower,  and  if 
he  has  enjoyed  sweet  slumbers,  it  is  well  with  her. 
And  the  King  looked  for  a  moment  at  the  smile 
that  sat  like  sunlight  on  her  lips ;  and  he  said  with 
a  sigh:  Dear  cheti,  how  can  he  sleep  well,  who 
doubts  and  fears?  For  I  am  about  to  put  out 
again  upon  the  sea,  on  which  I  have  already 
made  shipwreck.  Blue,  blue  is  the  sea,  and  soft 
and  calm  its  waves,  and  smiling,  and  yet  so  it  was 
before,  when  it  betrayed  me.  And  shall  I  trust 
my  little  bark  on  it  again?  Then  she  looked  at 
him  awhile,  with  sorrow  and  reproach  in  her 
eyes.  And  she  said :  Doomed  is  the  double  mind, 
and  he  that  cannot  venture,  for  want  of  courage 
or  of  trust,  can  never  win  return.  Not  for  him 
the  treastires  that  lurk  in  the  bosom  of  the  sea, 
where  monsters  roam,  and  jewels  lie,  and  sea 
nymphs  dwell.  For  once  upon  a  time,  there  was 
a  merchant's  son  who  set  out  in  a  ship  to  go  on 


Shirisha  183 

a  trading  journey  to  a  distant  land.  And  he  sailed 
for  many  a  yojana  over  the  billowy  waves,  till  at 
length  he  came  to  the  very  middle  of  the  sea. 
Then  suddenly  the  wind  fell,  and  the  sails  hung 
idle  on  the  yards,  and  the  ship  stopped.  And 
out  of  the  green  and  heaving  sea  there  rose  before 
him  a  tree  of  coral ;  and  on  a  branch  of  that  tree 
there  sat  a  maiden  of  the  sea :  and  the  foam  of 
the  sea  dripped  from  her  limbs,  and  sat  like 
pearls  upon  her  breasts,  and  fell  like  cream  into 
the  water,  and  her  long  hair  lay  on  the  waves 
that  surged  beneath  her  like  her  own  breast. 
And  she  called  to  the  merchant's  son :  Jump  into 
the  sea,  and  come  and  live  with  me,  and  I  will 
give  thee  jewels  such  as  no  merchant  ever  saw, 
and  surfeit  thee  with  pleasures  such  as  never 
mortal  tasted  yet.  Then  that  coward  merchant's 
soul  was  balanced  between  his  longing  for  that 
heavenly  maiden  and  his  fear  of  the  waves.  And 
he  looked  and  longed  to  jump,  but  did  not  dare. 
And  then  in  a  moment  that  fair  tree  and  its  lovely 
burden  sank  back  into  the  sea  and  disappeared, 
and  he  was  left  alone,  with  the  water  and  the  sky. 
Then  he  continued  his  journey,  filled  with  un- 
availing regret,  and  presently  there  arose  a  storm, 
and  it  sank  his  ship  into  the  sea,  and  he  was 
drowned.  Thus  he  lost  his  treasure,  and  yet  for 
all  that  did  not  even  save  his  worthless  life  from 


1 84        The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 

the  very  danger  that  he  feared.  And,  O  King, 
this  life  is  fleeting,  and  more  unstable  than  the 
waves  of  ocean  that  it  resembles.  And  what 
does  it  contain  that  should  make  it  worth  a  hero's 
while  to  balance  for  a  moment  between  losing  it, 
and  winning  what  fortune  only  offers  once  in  any 
life,  and  often  not  at  all? 

Then  she  laid  the  Shirisha  flower  at  the  King's 
feet,  and  turned  and  went  away,  slowly,  and  was 
lost  among  the  trees.  And  the  King  stooped  and 
picked  up  the  flower.  And  he  said:  O  Shirisha, 
woe  to  thee,  lovely  as  thou  art,  for  thou  art  the 
bringer  of  unhappiness.  Now  have  I  offended 
my  beloved  cheti  by  betraying  iinworthy  sus- 
picion. But  ah!  she  is  a  woman.  Why  did  not 
Maheshwara  lift  her  out  of  the  category  of 
women,  and  place  her  in  a  species  by  herself,  that 
I  might  not  remember  when  I  gaze  at  her  imper- 
fections that  are  inseparable  from  all  her  sex  but 
her?  And  he  went  back  to  the  temple,  with  the 
flower  in  his  hand,  angry  with  himself,  and  more 
in  love  with  the  cheti  than  before. 

KADAMBA. 

And  he  lay  all  night  on  his  bed  of  leaves,  re- 
penting of  his  doubts:  and  in  the  morning  he 
arose  before  the  stin,  and  went  out,  and  watched 


Kadamba  185 

the  eastern  sky  changing  colour  like  an  opal  as  the 
night  drove  away  before  the  dawn :  but  the  cheti 
never  came.  And  as  the  day  grew  older,  the 
King  grew  paler,  for  he  said:  Can  it  be  that  she 
means  to  leave  me  another  day  alone  ?  And  then 
at  last,  when  the  sun  was  already  high  in  the 
heaven,  he  looked,  and  saw  her  coming  slowly 
towards  him,  with  a  purple  flower  of  the  Kadamba 
in  her  hand.  And  she  seemed  in  his  eyes  like  the 
nectar  of  reconciliation  in  feminine  form.  And 
she  came  up  to  him  and  said :  My  mistress  sends 
her  lord,  by  these  unworthy  hands,  a  flower,  and 
if  his  slumbers  have  been  light,  it  is  well  with  her. 
Then  the  King  said:  Dear  cheti,  how  can  he 
sleep  who  waits  to  be  forgiven  for  a  sin  com- 
mitted? And  she  said:  What  is  that?  The 
King  said:  My  bark  is  launched,  and  long  ago 
floating  on  the  very  middle  of  the  sea.  Nothing 
now  is  wanting,  save  the  lady  of  the  coral  tree, 
to  bid  me  to  jump  into  the  water.  Then  she 
looked  at  him  with  joy  dancing  in  her  eyes :  but 
she  said:  O  King,  such  maidens  are  very  rare, 
rarer  even  than  the  trees  on  which  they  grow. 
And  much  I  fear  that  thou  hast  latmched  thy 
little  boat  in  vain,  and  will  have  to  content  thee 
with  a  more  earthly  mistress,  such  as  mine.  Then 
the  King  said:  Tell  me  not  of  thy  mistress,  for 
I  will  not  listen.     Then  she  said :  Nay,  but  surely 


i86        The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 

thou  art  curious  to  learn  at  least  what  she  is  like. 
She  is  far  more  beautiful  than  I,  and  she  is  tall. 
Then  the  King  said :  If  she  is  taller  than  thou  art, 
she  is  too  tall.  Then  she  said:  Moreover,  she  is 
skilled  in  poetry.  And  the  King  said :  I  love  not 
ladies  that  are  pundits.  Then  she  said:  She 
dances  and  sings  like  an  Apsaras  in  Indra's  hall. 
And  the  King  said :  I  care  for  the  dancing  of  no 
feet,  save  that  of  thine  as  they  come  towards  me ; 
and  for  no  music  save  that  of  thy  voice,  which 
is  more  delightful  in  my  ear  than  the  murmur  of 
the  bees.  And  as  he  spoke,  a  bee,  attracted  by 
the  flower  in  her  hand,  flew  to  it,  and  entered  it. 
Then  she  closed  the  petals  quickly  with  her  hand, 
and  said :  O  King,  I  have  him  here  a  prisoner,  to 
convict  thee  of  thy  madness.  Listen,  and  tell 
me  if  thou  canst,  without  deceiving,  which  is  the 
sweeter,  the  real  bee,  or  that  voice  of  mine  which 
thou  dost  liken  to  its  humming?  And  the  King 
put  his  ear  close  to  the  flower,  and  heard  the  bee 
inside :  and  he  said :  I  cannot  tell.  And  he  fixed 
his  eyes  upon  her  face,  and  said :  Now  speak,  that 
I  may  judge  between  him  and  thee.  Then  she 
laughed,  and  let  go  the  flower,  and  the  bee  flew 
away.  And  the  King  exclaimed:  Alas!  the  bee 
is  mad,  not  I,  For  who  would  willingly  quit  a 
prison  compounded  of  a  flower  and  thy  hand, 
which  is  itself  a  flower?     Give  it  me  that  I  may 


Kadamba  187 

compare  them.  But  she  said:  Nay;  the  flower 
is  thine  own,  for  it  was  a  present  from  my  mis- 
tress: but  my  hand  is  mine,  and  now  I  must  re- 
turn to  her.  And  as  she  spoke,  the  bee  came 
again,  and  buzzed  about  her  head.  And  she  ex- 
claimed in  terror:  O  King,  this  villain  of  a  bee 
will  sting  me.  And  the  King  said:  Doubtless: 
he  has  come  to  avenge  himself  for  his  imprison- 
ment. Then  she  ran  in  agitation  almost  into  the 
King's  arms,  exclaiming:  O  King,  protect  her 
who  comes  to  thee  for  refuge.'  And  in  his  de- 
light, the  King  exclaimed:  O  King  of  bees,  come 
thou  to  me,  and  in  return  for  the  favour  thou  hast 
done  me,  I  will  serve  thee  with  honey  in  lotus 
cups  all  day.  But  in  the  meanwhile  the  bee  flew 
away.  And  Madhupamanjari  started  back  in 
confusion,  and  said:  O  King,  my  mistress  is 
brave,  and  not  afraid  of  bees.  Then  the  King 
said,  with  emphasis:  Out  upon  all  women,  that 
do  not  fear  bees!  But,  O  Bee  Blossom,^  surely 
this  bee  is  to  be  excused,  if  he  mistook  thy  lips  for 
a  flower. 

Then  she  said:  O  King,  this  immannerly  bee 
has  disgraced  me  in  thine  eyes,  and  caused  me  to 
forget  the  reserve  of  a  maiden :  and  now  it  is  time 

'  This  is  a  formula.  The  special  business  of  kings  was  like 
that  of  the  knight  in  the  Middle  Ages,  to  protect  the  dis- 
tressed (sharandgata) . 

'  He  plays  upon  her  name:  see  note,  p.  164. 


1 88        The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 

that  I  were  gone.  Afld  she  laid  the  flower  at  the 
King's  feet,  and  ran  away  without  looking  behind 
her,  and  vanished  in  the  trees.  But  the  King 
stooped  and  picked  up  the  flower.  And  he  said: 
O  glorious  flower,  I  will  preserve  thee  for  ever, 
even  after  thou  art  faded:  for  thou  wast  the 
occasion  of  the  onslaught  of  this  incomparable 
bee,  which  led  my  dear  cheti  to  forget  her  caution 
and  take  refuge  in  my  arms.  O  beauty,  thou  art 
irresistible  above  all,  because  thou  art  weak! 
Out,  out  upon  all  kings'  daughters  that  are  not 
afraid  of  bees !  And  he  went  back  to  the  temple, 
kissing  the  Kadamba  flower,  and  intoxicated  with 
delight. 

AMARANTH. 

And  all  night,  he  slept  with  the  Kadamba 
flower  on  his  bed  of  leaves:  and  in  the  morning 
he  went  out,  and  watched  the  fire-flies  on  the 
pool  hastening  to  hide  their  lamps  before  they 
should  be  shamed  by  the  coming  of  the  Great 
Lamp  of  day.  And  presently  the  cheti  came 
towards  him,  holding  in  her  hand  an  amaranth.^ 
And  she  looked  like  an  incarnation  of  the  essence 
of  timidity,  blushing  at  the  recollection  of  the 
adventure  of  the  day  before.     And  she  came  up 

^  Kurabaka:  it  has  a  crimson  flower. 


Amaranth  1 89 

to  the  King,  and  said :  O  King,  my  mistress  sends 
her  lord,  by  these  unworthy  hands,  a  flower,  and 
if  his  slumber  has  been  peaceful,  it  is  well  with 
her. 

Then  the  King  said :  Dear  cheti,  he  sleeps  well, 
who  has  not  to  reproach  himself  with  withholding 
succour  from  the  suppliant.  Then  she  dropped 
her  eyes  upon  the  ground.  And  the  King  looked 
at  her  with  affection,  and  he  said :  Dear  cheti,  do 
not  be  ashamed :  for  thy  case  was  perilous.  More- 
over, I  took  no  advantage  of  thee  in  thy  distress. 
But  nevertheless,  could  I  discover  that  bee,  I 
would  intoxicate  him  with  nectar  till  he  could 
not  fly.  Then  she  said:  And  what,  if  he  had 
stimg  me?  Then  the  King  said:  Cheti,  had  the 
villain  stung  thee,  I  would  have  bound  him  with 
cobwebs,  and  thrown  him  before  an  elephant. 
Then  she  laughed,  and  said:  Poor  bee!  the  pun- 
ishment would  have  exceeded  his  crime.  But 
enough  of  him!  Let  me  rather  continue  to  en- 
lighten thee  as  to  the  virtues  of  my  mistress. 
Then  the  King  said  hastily:  O  thou  tormentor, 
wilt  thou  never  cease  to  remind  me  of  thy  mis- 
tress? O  that  I  were  not  a  king,  to  endure  by 
reason  of  policy  queens  that  I  do  not  want!  Or 
why  art  thou  not  thy  mistress,  and  she  the  maid? 
For  as  it  is,  I  see  before  me  nothing  but  despair. 
Then  she  said:    O  King,   despair  is  unavailing. 


190        The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 

And  even  greater  obstacles  than  these  have  been 
surmounted  by  others,  by  the  favour  of  Ganesha 
and  their  own  determination.  Did  not  Wish- 
wamitra  by  resolution  long  ago  become  a  Brah- 
man? Then  the  King  said  with  a  sigh:  O  my 
dear  cheti,  I  am  in  misery,  and  instead  of  con- 
soling me,  thou  mockest  me  with  old  legends  that 
are  not  to  the  point.  And  she  said:  O  King, 
some  surmount  obstacles,  and  some  faint  and  die 
before  shadows,  which  seem  to  be  but  are  not 
really  obstacles  at  all.  For  once  there  was  a  full 
moon.  And  looking  for  lotuses  to  love,  he  peered 
curiously  into  a  forest  pool.  Now  in  that  pool 
there  was  a  pure  white  lotus,  growing  in  the 
black  mud.  But  that  day  there  had  come  down 
to  the  pool  two  male  elephants ;  and  they  fought 
in  the  pool,  and  struck  their  tusks  into  each  other's 
sides,  and  their  red  blood  streamed  into  the  pool, 
and  fell  upon  the  lotus,  and  turned  its  petals  red. 
So  when  the  moon  looked  down  into  the  pool,  he 
exclaimed:  Alas!  it  is  only  a  red  lotus,  and  not  a 
bride  for  me.'  So  he  pined  away  in  sorrow,  and 
night  after  night  he  grew  thinner  and  thinner,  and 
at  last  his  emaciation  became  such  that  he  van- 
ished altogether,  and  ceased  to  exist.  And  then 
on  the  dark  night  that  precedes  the  new  moon, 

>  The  white  lotus  {kumuda)  is  the  proper  moon-lotixs,  the 
others  are  apparently  all  devoted  to  the  sun. 


Ashoka  191 

the  clouds  assembled  in  masses ;  and  there  fell  a 
furioiis  rain  into  the  poolj  and  it  washed  the  lotus 
clean.  And  when  the  new  moon  stole  into  the 
pool,  lo !  he  saw  to  his  delight  a  pure  white  lotus, 
with  a  rain-drop  shining  on  its  leaf,  like  a  tear  of 
joy  at  his  approach.' 

Then  the  King  said:  O,  that  I  were  that  moon, 
and  thou  my  lotus:  then  would  my  nights  pass 
like  an  instant  of  delight,  and  not  hang  over  me, 
as  now  they  do,  black  with  the  hours  of  separa- 
tion. But  she  laid  the  amaranth  at  his  feet,  and 
went  away:  and  turned,  before  she  vanished  in 
the  trees,  and  then  became  invisible.  And  the 
King  stooped,  and  picked  up  the  flower.  And 
he  said :  Amaranth,  gladly  would  I  stain  thee,  as 
those  mad  elephants  did  the  lotus,  with  my 
blood,  could  it  avail:  yet  even  so,  I  could  not 
make  thy  colour  redder  than  it  is.  And  he  went 
back  to  the  temple,  with  the  amaranth  in  his  hand, 
sad  at  heart,  foreseeing  the  conflict  of  his  honour 
v/ith  his  love. 

ASHOKA. 

Then  all  night  long,  he  lay  tossing  on  his  bed 
of  leaves.  And  in  the  morning  he  rose  before  the 
sun,  and  went  out  and  stood  before  the  pool,  and 

»  The  King  did  not  understand  her,  for  love  is  blind. 


192        The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 

watched  the  parrots  screaming  in  the  ashwattha 
tree,  with  beaks  that  were  tipped  with  the  colour 
of  the  dawn :  till  he  saw  the  cheti  coming  towards 
him  with  twinkling  feet,  holding  an  askoka  flower 
in  her  hand.  And  she  seemed  in  his  eyes  like  a 
draught  of  the  nectar  of  love  longing  incarnate  in 
a  feminine  form.^  And  she  came  up  to  the  King 
and  said:  My  mistress  sends  her  lord,  by  these 
unworthy  hands,  a  flower,  and  if  his  slumbers  have 
been  sweet,  it  is  well  with  her. 

Then  the  King  said:  Dear  cheti,  can  he  sleep 
well,  whose  night  is  passed  in  longing  for  the  mom  ? 
Alas!  why  is  it  not  always  dawn?  for  see,  at  dawn, 
how  all  the  lotuses  turn  golden  in  the  sim,  and 
thou  art  here.  Could  not  Maheshwara  of  his  om- 
nipotence strike  Surya  with  his  trident,  and  fix 
him  in  the  sky,  over  the  eastern  mountain:  so 
would  the  lotuses  be  always  golden,  and  thou 
wouldst  be  always  here.  Then  she  said:  O  King, 
they  come  to  evil  ends  who  long  for  the  impossible. 
As,  long  ago,  did  he,  who  coveted  the  Spinners  of 
the  Sun.  For  once  there  was  a  gambler,  who 
having  lost  everything  at  play  was  wandering 
about  the  world,  and  by  chance  came  upon  an 
Apsaras  asleep.     But  as  he  ran  at  her,  she  woke 

'  These  are  the  expressions  that  are  the  despair  of  the 
translator.  So  simple,  so  beautiful,  so  pithy  in  the  original: 
so  roundabout  and  clumsy  in  a  language  whose  genius  is 
altogether  different  {murtdinaut-sukyamddandm). 


Ash6ka  193 

up,  and  sprang  into  the  air  and  vanished :  but  he 
caught  her  by  the  foot,  and  she  left  her  golden 
sandal  in  his  hand.  Then  she  began  to  wheedle 
and  cajole  him,  saying :  Give  me  back  my  sandal, 
for  without  it  I  cannot  go  to  Indra's  hall,  and  to- 
night I  have  to  dance  there  without  fail.  Then 
he  said :  I  will  give  it  back  only  if  thou  wilt  carry 
me  to  heaven,  and  let  me  see  thee  dancing.  So 
finding  no  escape,  the  Apsaras  carried  him  to 
heaven,  hidden  in  a  flower  in  her  ear.  And  he 
saw  all  the  Apsarases  dancing  in  golden  robes, 
like  a  bed  of  golden  lotuses  all  waving  in  the 
wind.  Then  filled  with  greed,  he  said  to  her, 
whispering  into  her  ear:  Whence  come  your 
golden  robes  ?  And  she  said :  They  are  made  for 
us  by  the  Spinners  of  the  Sun,  who  dwell  beyond 
the  eastern  moimtain.  And  every  night  they 
sit  and  spin  the  hair  of  his  old  rays  into  gold, 
combing  it  out  of  his  head,  after  he  has  washed 
in  the  lakes  of  liquid  amethyst  that  lie  hidden  in 
that  mountain,  where  it  is  always  dawn,  and  never 
either  dusk,  or  night,  or  noon.  But  when  the 
gambler  heard  her,  insatiable  desire  filled  his 
greedy  soul.  And  he  began  to  shout  and  bawl: 
Hey!  for  the  gold:  hey!  for  the  Spinners.  And 
Indra  said:  Who  is  that  making  discords  in 
heaven,  and  throwing  out  the  dancers?  So  they 
hunted  about,  and  found  him  hidden  in  the  flower 


194        The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 

in  her  ear.  Then  Indra  said  to  Matali :  Turn  this 
rascal  out  of  heaven,  and  with  him  the  impudent 
Apsaras  who  has  dared  to  smuggle  him  into  heaven 
in  her  ear.  So  Matali  threw  them  out.  But  the 
gambler,  not  being  a  sky -goer,  fell  down  to  earth 
and  was  broken  to  pieces. 

So  King,  beware!  lest  by  coveting  the  impos- 
sible thou  shouldst  lose  thy  heaven  altogether. 
And  she  laid  the  ashdka  flower  at  the  King's  feet, 
and  turned  to  go.  Then  the  King  said:  Alas! 
dear  chiti,  canst  thou  not  stay  longer?  And  she 
said:  No.  Then  he  said:  Then  canst  thou  not 
come  twice  or  three  times  in  the  day?  For  the 
days  are  long,  and  thou  art  here  but  for  a  moment : 
and  between  every  two  days  there  is  a  night. 
Then  she  said :  O  King,  covet  not  the  impossible : 
for  where  my  mistress  is,  I  must  be  too :  and  now 
I  have  duties  to  perform.  And  she  went  away 
through  the  trees,  looking  back  over  her  shoulder 
at  the  King,  till  she  disappeared.  Then  the 
King  stooped  and  picked  up  the  flower.  And  he 
said:  Ashdka,  thou  dost  torture  me  exactly  like 
the  provoking  cheti  who  conveyed  thee:  for  th>' 
beauty  is  such,  that  I  cannot  bear  to  throw  thee 
away,  and  yet  thou  dost  not  cease  to  remind  me 
of  my  obligation  to  her  mistress.  And  he  went 
back  to  the  temple,  with  the  ashdka  in  his  hand, 
and  the  image  of  Madhupamanjari  in  his  heart. 


Palasha  195 

PALASHA. 

And  he  lay  all  night,  tossing  on  his  bed  of 
leaves:  and  in  the  morning,  he  arose  before  the 
Sim,  and  stood  sadly,  plunged  in  meditation,  like 
a  crane,  on  the  edge  of  the  pool.  And  he  never 
noticed  how  the  cheti  came  towards  him,  till  he 
looked  up,  and  saw  her  standing  beside  him,  with 
a  red  Paldsha  flower  in  her  hand.  Then  she  said : 
O  King,  my  mistress  sends  her  lord,  by  these  un- 
worthy hands,  a  flower,  and  if  his  sleep  has  been 
sound,  it  is  well  with  her. 

Then  the  King  said:  Dear  cheti,  sleep,  like  a 
jealous  rival,  has  taken  offence  at  thy  frequent 
visits  to  me,  and  will  not  come  near  me.  And 
she  said,  with  a  smile:  O  King,  let  her  not  be 
angry,  for  soon  will  my  visits  cease.  Then  the 
King  cried  out :  Ah !  say  not  so :  thou  hast  uttered 
the  very  secret  of  my  heart.  For  I  must  ere  long 
celebrate  this  hateful  marriage  with  thy  mistress, 
for  to  keep  her  waiting  any  longer  would  not  be 
polite.  And  then,  alas!  what  will  become  of  me 
and  thee?  Thy  visits  will  cease,  and  if  thy  mis- 
tress should  suspect  me,  she  might  put  thee  to 
death.  Then  the  ch^ti  said :  Nay,  not  so :  for  my 
mistress  wishes  well,  both  to  thee  and  to  me. 
And  I  fear,  lest  when  thou  knowest  her,  it  may 
turn  out  wholly  otherwise ;   and  thou  wilt  rather 


196        The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 

forget  the  cheti  for  the  mistress.  Then  the  King 
exclaimed:  Be  the  sun  my  witness  that  I  will 
not.  Rather  will  I  send  her  back  to  her  father. 
Let  him  do  what  he  will:  let  him  take  my  king- 
dom, and  add  it  to  his  own:  I  care  not  so  that 
he  only  leave  me  this  wood  and  its  pool,  and  thee 
for  its  visitor  in  the  morning.  And  she  looked  at 
him  with  a  smile ;  and  said :  O  King,  these  are  but 
idle  words.  And  well  do  I  know  that  thou  wilt 
never  send  her  back.  Then  the  King  said: 
Cheti,  I  will.  Then  she  said:  Nay,  that  were  to 
deceive  her,  and  break  thy  own  word.  And  de- 
ception is  base,  but  fidelity  is  good.  Moreover, 
she  is  a  deposit '  in  thy  hands.  And  know  that 
once  there  was  a  merchant  who  possessed  a  great 
pearl,  such  that  the  hand  could  hardly  grasp  it: 
and  it  resembled  a  mass  of  sea-foam,  collected 
into  a  ball  in  the  light  of  the  moon  on  an  ocean 
shell,  under  the  constellation  Swdti.  And  it  was 
famous  throughout  the  kingdom.  Then  having 
to  go  on  a  journey,  he  went  to  a  brother  merchant, 
and  gave  it  to  him,  saying :  This  is  a  deposit  with 
thee,  till  I  return.  So  he  said:  Very  well:  go 
without  fear.  And  the  merchant  departed.  But 
the  other  buried  the  pearl  in  the  ground.  Then 
the  King  came  to  him  and  said:    Give  me  the 

'  This  idea  of  a  "deposit"  constantly  recurs  in  Hindoo 
poetry. 


Palasha  197 

pearl  which  was  deposited  with  thee,  and  I  will 
enrich  thee :  if  not,  I  will  take  it  by  force.  Then 
the  merchant  said :  What  wilt  thou  take,  to  wait 
for  a  week:  for  I  love  to  look  at  it?  The  King 
said:  For  one  crore,'  I  will  wait  for  one  week. 
So  the  merchant  gave  him  a  crore.  Then  after 
a  week,  the  King  came  again,  and  said:  Give  me 
now  the  pearl.  And  the  merchant  bought  from 
him  the  delay  of  another  week  for  another  crore. 
And  so  he  did,  till  after  a  while  his  wealth  was 
exhausted,  and  he  was  a  beggar.  Then  the  King 
said:  Give  me  now  the  pearl.  Then  the  mer- 
chant said :  King,  I  have  a  daughter,  fairer  by  far 
than  all  thy  queens.  Take  her,  and  sell  me,  for 
her,  another  week.  So  the  King  did.  And  then 
he  came  again :  and  said :  Give  me  now  the  pearl. 
Then  the  merchant  said:  Take  my  life,  and  sell 
me  for  it  yet  another  week;  and  when  that  is 
ended,  take  the  pearl,  and  promise  to  put  me  to 
death.  So  the  King  said:  Very  well.  Then 
after  three  days,  the  owner  of  the  pearl  returned. 
And  he  came  and  asked  for  his  pearl:  and  the 
other  gave  it  to  him,  and  said :  Thou  art  returned 
in  good  time :  here  is  thy  deposit ;  and  all  is  well. 
And  then  he  went  to  the  King,  and  said :  O  King, 
the  owner  of  the  pearl  has  returned :   and  I  have 

*  About  a  million  sterling,  when  the  rupee  was  equal  to 
a  florin. 


igS        The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 

restored  to  him  his  own:  and  here  I  am.  Then 
said  the  King:  Thou  art  the  pearl  for  whom  I 
have  been  waiting.  And  now  thou  shalt  marry 
my  daughter,  and  recover  thy  own,  as  pure  as 
when  I  took  her;  for  she  was  thy  deposit  in  my 
hands :  and  my  kingdom  and  all  my  affairs  shall 
be  in  thine. 

Then  she  laid  the  flower  at  the  King's  feet,  and 
went  away.  But  the  King  stood  and  watched 
her  as  she  went,  till  she  passed  out  of  his  sight. 
And  then  he  stooped  and  took  up  the  flower.  And 
he  said :  O  flower  of  the  Dhak,  thou  art  a  deposit 
in  my  hands.  How  shall  I  do  without  her?  or 
how  retain  her  and  my  honour,  for  they  are  in- 
compatible? And  he  went  back  to  the  temple 
with  the  flower  in  his  hand,  striving  to  discover 
some  way  of  escape  from  the  dilemma,  but  in  vain. 

SHAMI 

And  he  lay  all  night,  tossing  on  his  bed  of 
leaves:  and  in  the  morning,  he  rose  before  the 
sun,  and  went  out.  And  as  he  stood  watching 
the  fish,  raising  their  silver  heads  from  the  water 
to  nibble  the  lotus  stalks,  he  saw  the  chHi  coming 
towards  him,  with  a  yellow  flower  of  the  shami  in 
her  hand:  and  she  resembled  the  very  creeper 
itself,  gifted  with  the  power  of  motion.     Then  she 


Shami  199 

came  up  to  the  King,  and  said :  O  King,  my  mis- 
tress sends  her  lord,  by  these  unworthy  hands,  a 
flower,  and  if  his  slumber  has  been  sweet,  it  is 
well  with  her. 

Then  the  King  said:  Dear  cheti,  how  can  he 
sleep,  who  sees  before  him  the  end  of  his  life? 
And  she  said:  O  King,  is  thy  life  so  sweet  to 
thee?  Surely  this  very  moon  was  new,  when  life 
was  yet  a  thing  of  no  value  in  thy  eyes?  Then 
the  King  said:  Aye!  but  then  I  had  never  seen 
thy  face.  And  the  cheti  laughed,  and  said:  O 
King,  but  am  I  not  a  woman?  And  what  are 
women  in  thy  eyes?  Then  he  said:  What  thou 
art,  I  care  not :  sure  I  am,  that  thou  art  not  a 
woman.  Or  if  thou  art  a  woman,  the  Creator 
has  surely  formed  two  species  of  thy  kind:  in 
one,  he  put  all  other  women;  and  in  the  other, 
thee  alone.  And  she  looked  at  him,  with  mis- 
chief in  her  eyes.  And  she  said:  And  in  which 
class  did  he  place  my  mistress?  But  the  King 
exclaimed:  Out  on  thee,  thou  marble -hearted 
ch^ti!  Canst  thou  not  allow  me  to  forget  but  for 
a  moment,  what  I  remember  but  too  well?  Then 
she  said:  But,  O  King,  thou  dost  not  well.  Wilt 
thou  leave  my  mistress  for  ever  awaiting  thy 
pleasure  in  this  matter  of  thy  marriage?  Anci 
the  King  winced  at  her  words,  like  a  noble  horse 
touched    by    the    whip.     And    he    said:     Ch^ti, 


200        The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 

poison  not  the  nectar  of  my  dawn.  Only  too  well 
I  know  that  thou  art  right,  and  that  my  be- 
haviour in  this  matter  is  not  that  of  a  gentleman. ^ 
And  yet,  for  this,  thou  art  thyself  to  blame;  and 
so  is  she.  Could  she  not  have  chosen  some  other 
than  thyself  to  do  her  errand?  And  yet,  out  on 
her,  if  she  had!  Then  should  I  have  missed  tho 
very  kernel  of  the  fruit  of  my  birth.  Alas !  which- 
ever way  she  chose,  it  was  my  ruin.  Then  said 
the  ch^ti:  That  which  is  to  be  is  known  only  to 
the  deity.  But  thy  duty  to  the  Queen  is  very 
plain.  And  the  King  sighed.  And  he  said: 
Hard  is  thy  heart,  and  very  fair  thy  form:  sweet 
is  thy  voice,  and  bitter  are  thy  words.  To- 
morrow, I  will  do  thy  bidding  and  my  duty,  and 
pay  a  visit  to  the  Queen,  and  consult  with  the 
astrologers  and  fix  a  day  for  the  ceremony.  But 
01  to-day  let  me  see  thee  and  hear  thee  to  the 
full.  Stay  with  me  till  the  evening,  that  I  may 
draw  from  thee  strength  to  nerve  me  for  the 
morrow. 

Then  she  looked  at  him  awhile,  with  kindly 
eyes:  and  then  she  said:  O  King,  that  which  is 
written  on  the  future  by  the  deity,  no  man  can 
erase,  and  no  wisdom  can  avert.  For  once  there 
was  a  king,  with  many  queens.  And  among 
these,  there  was  one,  whose  name  was  Shri  ^ ;  and 

>  Andrya:  an  exact  equivalent.      *  The  goddess  of  beauty. 


Shami  201 

the  name  was  not  appropriate,  for  she  was  the 
least  beautiful  of  all.  But  she  was  gentle,  and 
small,  and  she  thought  nothing  of  herself:  and 
the  king  loved  her  so  passionately,  that  he  would 
have  given  his  kingdom,  and  his  life,  and  all  the 
riches  of  the  three  worlds,  to  save  one  hair  from 
falling  from  her  head.  Now  it  happened,  that 
one  day  a  criminal  was  apprehended  in  a  crime: 
and  the  king  gave  orders  that  he  should  instantly 
be  put  to  death:  and  it  was  done.  Then  after 
a  while,  the  priests  came  to  him  and  said:  O 
King,  this  man,  that  thy  order  put  to  death,  was 
a  Brahman  * ;  and  the  gods  are  angry.  And  now, 
thy  life  and  thy  kingdom  are  in  jeopardy:  and 
unless  they  are  appeased  with  a  sacrifice,  the 
gods  will  destroy  us  all.  Then  the  king  said :  What 
sacrifice  is  necessary?  And  they  said:  That  of 
the  queen  that  loves  thee,  and  that  thou  lovest, 
best.  Then  terror  came  into  the  king's  heart. 
And  he  lied,  and  said :  She  of  all  my  queens  that 
loves  me,  and  that  I  love,  best,  is  Priyadarshini : 
and  alas!  she  is  the  most  beautiful  of  all.     So 

>  The  most  frightful  penalties  are  laid,  in  Manu,  upon  those 
who  slew  Brahmans:  under  no  circumstances  whatever 
could  the  King  put  them  to  death.  (It  is  a  total  misappre- 
hension to  ascribe  these,  and  similar  regulations,  as  is  so 
often  done,  to  the  ciinning  and  policy  of  the  Brahmans. 
They  were  the  repository  of  the  religious  welfare  of  the  State, 
and  they  shared  the  superstition  which  made  the  killing  of 
them  a  crime.)     See,  e.  g.,  Moore's  Pantheon,  p.  373. 


202        The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 

they  said:  Very  well.  To-morrow  morning,  the 
sacrifice  shall  be  performed.  And  they  went 
away.  And  in  the  morning,  all  the  people  as- 
sembled in  a  vast  crowd  around  the  sacrificial 
stone,  and  the  king  sat  near,  upon  his  throne. 
And  they  led  up  the  victim,  covered  with  a  veil: 
and  the  officiating  priest  stood  ready  with  a 
knife.  Then  they  took  off  the  veil  from  the 
victim,  and  uncovered  her:  and  the  king  looked, 
and  saw,  not  Priyadarshini,  but  Shri. 

And  then,  in  agony,  he  boimded  on  his  throne. 
And  the  world  vanished  from  his  sight,  and  he 
waved  his  hands,  not  knowing  what  he  did.  And 
he  cried  out,  with  a  voice  like  a  trumpet:  Ah  no! 
ah  no !  not  Shri :  not  Shri !  But  the  priest  raised 
the  knife.  And  as  he  did  so,  it  caught  in  his  gar- 
ments, and  fell  to  the  ground.  And  in  a  moment 
he  regained  it,  and  raised  it,  and  struck.  But  in 
that  instant,  the  king  threw  himself  like  a  tiger 
upon  the  body  of  his  wife.  And  the  knife  fell,  and 
pierced  his  heart. 

And  then  Shri  rose,  from  under  the  body  of  the 
king.  And  she  looked  for  a  moment  at  the  crowd 
around  her,  and  sat  down  upon  the  ground,  and 
took  the  king's  head  upon  her  lap,  and  fell  upon 
it,  and  followed  him  into  the  other  world.  Then 
dead  silence  fell  upon  the  people,  and  they  waited 
in  fear.     And  at  last  the  priest  said :  The  sacrifice 


Shami  203 

is  complete,  and  the  gods  are  appeased :  for  they 
have  gained,  not  a  life  for  a  life,  but  two  for  one. 
Then  the  cheti  stopped.  And  she  laid  the 
flower  at  the  king's  feet,  and  turned  to  go.  But 
the  King  shook  with  agitation.  And  his  voice 
trembled,  as  he  said:  What!  wilt  thou  go  so 
soon,  almost  before  thou  hast  arrived  ?  O  tell  me 
another  tale,  that  I  may  listen  to  thy  voice.  Or, 
if  thou  wilt,  say  nothing:  stand  only  where  thou 
art,  and  let  me  watch  thee:  so  shall  thy  brow, 
and  thy  smile,  and  the  colour  of  thy  dark  blue 
eyes  melt  deep  into  my  soul,  and  remain  there 
fixed  like  a  never-fading  dye,  to  keep  me  from 
despair  when  thou  art  gone.  Then  she  turned 
and  stood.  And  suddenly  she  came  up  close  to 
the  King,  and  laid  her  hand  upon  his  arm.  And 
she  said:  O  King,  now  I  must  go,  for  it  is  time. 
But  wait:  it  may  be  that  my  mistress  will  send 
me  back  again:  for  there  are  matters  to  arrange 
for  the  morrow.  And  she  smiled  at  the  King,  and 
went  away  quickly  through  the  wood,  while  he 
stood  motionless,  and  watched  her  as  she  went. 
And  then  he  stooped,  and  picked  up  the  flower. 
And  he  said:  Shami,  thou  hast,  like  me,  fire  in 
thy  heart,  1  and  what  thou  art  to  the  ashwattha, 

«  The  prime\'al  fire  was  generated  by  the  friction  of  the 
shami  and  ashwattha  trees.  Kalidas  (Raghuwansha,  III.  9) 
calls  the  shami  " abhyantaralinapdwakam,"  i.  e.,  that  "which 
has  fire  in  its  heart." 


204        The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 

that  is  she  who  laid  thee  at  my  feet  to  me.  Like 
thee,  I  needed  but  the  touch  of  her  hand  to  burst 
into  a  flame.  And  here  I  will  await  her,  on  the 
edge  of  the  pool :  and  if  she  does  not  come,  I  will 
not  live  to  see  another  dawn. 


And  he  waited  by  the  pool,  getting  up  and  sit- 
ting down  in  his  impatience,  and  fixing  his  eyes 
on  the  place  where  the  cheti  had  vanished  in  the 
wood.  And  meanwhile  the  hours  followed  one 
another,  and  the  sun  rose  higher  and  higher  in 
the  sky.  And  the  heat  grew,  till  the  lotuses 
shone  like  silver  on  the  lake  slumbering  beneath 
them;  and  the  fish  slept  in  the  water,  and  the 
birds  upon  the  trees,  and  the  bees  grew  tired  of 
humming  and  lay  drunken  in  the  flowers,  and  the 
forest  hushed  as  if  it  were  buried  in  a  swoon,  and 
the  leaves  forgot  to  rustle  on  the  boughs.  And 
suddenly,  as  he  watched,  the  King  saw  Madhu- 
pamanjari  reappear  in  the  distance,  there  where 
she  had  gone  away;  and  she  stood  for  a  moment 
like  a  picture  on  the  wall,  while  the  King  gazed 
at  her  in  an  ecstasy,  listening  in  the  silence  to  the 
beating  of  his  heart.  Then,  after  a  while,  she 
broke  the  spell,  and  moved.  And  she  came 
towards  him  very  slowly,  and  stood  before  him. 
But  she  carried  nothing  in  her  hand.     And  she 


Shami  205 

said :  O  King,  my  mistress  wishes  for  a  lotus,  and 
has  sent  me  to  fetch  it  from  her  lord. 

And  the  King  looked  at  her,  as  she  stood  before 
him,  with  her  eyes  fixed  upon  the  ground,  and  her 
long  lashes  lying  like  shadows  on  her  cheek.  And 
his  heart  rose  into  his  mouth,  and  he  stood  silent ; 
and  he  tried  to  speak,  but  the  words  died  upon  his 
Hps.  So  they  two  stood  there  in  the  forest,  sur- 
rounded by  the  stillness.  And  at  last  the  King 
spoke.  And  he  said :  Dear  cheti,  there  is  a  thing 
that  I  would  ask  thee:  but  I  am  afraid.  Then 
she  said:  What  does  the  King  fear?  And  she 
looked  at  him  for  a  moment  with  a  smile  that 
vanished  from  her  lips  almost  before  it  had  ap- 
peared; and  dropped  her  eyes.  Then  he  said: 
Cheti,  canst  thou  tell  me  whether  I  am  in  love 
with  thee,  or  not? 

And  as  the  King  watched  her,  he  saw  the  colour 
come  and  go  upon  her  face.  And  at  last  she  said, 
slowly :  How  can  the  physician  decide,  who  does 
not  know  the  symptoms? 

Then  the  King  went  up,  and  stood  close  to  her. 
And  he  put  his  two  hands  behind  him,  and  shut 
them  together  tight,  and  leaned  towards  her,  and 
said :  Therefore  I  ask  thee,  because  I  cannot  tell, 
whether  I  am  in  love  with  thee,  or  not.  For  once 
before,  I  thought  I  was  in  love,  but  then  I  felt  not 
as  I  do  now.     And  if  then  I  was  in  love,  I  am  not 


2o6        The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 

now;  and  if  now,  I  was  not  then.  And  it  may 
be  thou  canst  tell  me,  for  thou  art  very  clever, 
as  I  am  not.  For  when  I  see  thee  coming,  dark- 
ness spreads  over  my  eyes,  and  fire  leaps  and 
rushes  through  my  frame.  And  the  sound  of 
thy  voice  makes  me  faint,  and  bums  me  like  the 
touch  of  ice :  and  a  shiver  runs  like  a  flame  over 
my  limbs,  and  a  deafening  noise  booms  in  my 
ears,  and  I  know  not  what  I  do.  And  tears  stand 
in  my  eyes,  and  yet  I  wish  to  laugh  for  joy ;  and 
if  I  try  to  speak,  my  voice  trembles,  as  it  does 
now ;  and  there  comes  into  my  throat  a  struggle, 
and  an  obstacle,  and  I  try  to  breathe  and  cannot, 
and  pain  presses  at  my  heart.  And  what  else  I 
feel,  I  cannot  tell;  but  this  I  know,  that  when 
thou  art  with  me,  it  is  life,  and  when  thou  leavest 
me,  it  is  death. 

But  Madhupamanjari  stood  silent.  And  her 
lower  lip  trembled,  and  a  tear  stood  upon  her 
lashes,  and  her  breast  heaved  slowly  up  and 
down.  And  at  last  she  raised  her  eyes,  and 
smiled  through  her  tears,  and  she  said:  O  King, 
it  is  better  that  I  should  go :  for  these  are  words 
fitter  for  my  mistress  than  for  me. 

And  then  the  King  drew  a  long  breath,  and  he 
stood  up.  And  he  looked  that  way  and  this  way : 
and  he  laughed.  And  he  said:  Thou  hast  driven 
me  to  desperation,  and  I  care  not.     Lo!  I  am  a 


Shami  207 

man  and  a  strong  man,  and  thou  art  a  woman, 
and  but  a  small  one.  Hence  thou  shalt  not  go, 
for  thou  carriest  away  my  life. 

And  suddenly,  he  seized  her  in  his  arms,  and 
held  her  tight.  And  as  he  did  so,  she  shrieked, 
and  struggled.  And  half  frightened,  and  half 
laughing,  she  exclaimed;  Aryaputra,^  let  me  go. 
Hast  thou  not  guessed  that  I  am  the  Queen? 


And  the  King  started,  and  leaped  into  the  air, 
as  if  a  sword  had  been  run  into  his  heart.  And  as 
he  stood  astounded,  Madhupamanjari  looked  at 
him,  and  almost  against  her  wjU,  began  to  laugh. 
And  he  stood  gazing  at  her,  first  with  amazement, 
and  then  with  shame,  and  lastly  with  delight. 
And  he  exclaimed:  Laugh  as  thou  wilt,  for  thy 
laughter  is  music  to  my  ear,  and  I  care  not,  so 
long  as  thou  art  with  me.  But  O  thou  delusive 
ch^H,  what  is  this  ?  Was  it  not  thou  that  wouldst 
not  let  me  deceive  the  Queen?  And  yet  what 
hast  thou  done  to  me? 

And  instantly,  Madhupamanjari  stopped  laugh- 
ing, and  tears  fell  instead  from  her  eyes.  And 
she  looked  at  her  husband  with  a  smile;  and 
suddenly  she  came  to  him  and  took  him  by  the 

>  As  much  as  to  say,  my  husband.  The  word  is  used  by 
ladies  in  addressing  their  lords. 


2o8        The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 

hand.  And  she  led  him  away,  and  sat  him  down 
upon  the  steps,  and  said :  Sit  thou  there,  and  I  will 
tell  thee.  Then  she  knelt  beside  him  on  the 
right,  and  put  his  right  hand  roimd  her,  and  took 
his  left  in  her  own.  And  she  said:  Foolish  one, 
and  didst  thou  think,  because  one  was  light  as 
stubble,  that  all  other  women  were  the  same? 
And  didst  thou  also  think,  that  thy  life  could  be 
passed  without  the  nectar  of  a  woman?  Listen 
now,  and  I  will  tell  thee  what  thou  dost  not  know. 
For  when  my  father  sent  to  offer  me  to  thee,  I 
also  sent  my  messenger,  who  brought  to  me  thy 
portrait,  and  told  me  all  about  thee,  and  I  loved 
thee  long  before  I  ever  saw  thee.  And  I  deter- 
mined that  it  should  be  the  same  with  thee :  and 
I  made  thee  long  for  me,  not  knowing  who  I  was. 
And  but  one  day  I  was  weak,  and  that  was  the 
day  I  did  not  come  to  thee,  and  I  passed  it  in 
weeping  for  thee,  and  to  keep  away  was  almost 
more  than  I  could  do.  And  now,  I  will  show  thee 
what  thou  hast  never  known,  the  sweetness  of 
thy  life.  For  when  thou  art  joyous,  I  will  double 
all  thy  joy :  and  when  thou  art  sad,  I  will  halve 
thy  sorrow  and  remove  it,  and  it  shall  be  a  joy  to 
thee,  deeper  than  joy.  And  when  thou  art  well, 
I  will  surfeit  thy  soul  with  amusement  and 
variety,  and  when  thou  art  sick,  I  will  nurse  thee : 
and  if  thou  art  weary,  thou  shalt  sleep  upon  my 


Shami  209 

breast,  and  it  shall  be  thy  pillow:  and  night  and 
day  my  spirit  shall  be  with  thee,  and  my  arms 
aroimd  thee.  And  when  thou  dost  not  want  me, 
I  will  be  absent;  and  when  thou  wishest  me 
again,  I  will  be  there.  And  if  I  should  die  before 
thee,  it  is  well,  and  thou  shalt  miss  me:  but  if 
thou  leavest  me  behind,  then  will  I  follow  thee 
through  the  fire,  for  I  will  not  live  without  thee, 
no,  not  even  for  a  day.  For  Hke  a  dream,  and  like 
moonlight,  and  like  a  shadow,  and  the  image  on 
the  surface  of  a  pool,  I  must  vanish  into  nothing, 
when  that  which  gave  me  substance  and  reality 
is  gone.  For  what  am  I,  but  a  double  and  a  copy 
and  an  echo  of  a  Being  which  is  Thou?  my  duty 
and  religion,  to  be  thy  Dhruwa  and  Arundhati,  thy 
Rati  and  thy  Radha,  thy  Chakri  and  thy  Kshe- 
trabhiimi,  thy  Shakti  and  thy  Twin?  ^  Chum 
me  only  with  the  mountain  of  thy  love,  and  like 
the  milky  ocean,  I  will  give  thee  up  my  essence, 
and  show  thee  that  a  faithful  wife  is  the  butter  of 

>  Dhruwd,  "thy  polar  star":  an  allusion  to  the  marriage 
ceremony,  in  which  the  bridegroom  points  out  to  his  bride 
that  star,  the  emblem  of  fidelity;  Arundhati,  the  "patron 
saint"  of  Hindoo  marriages,  the  pattern  of  a  perfect  wife. 
Rati,  the  wife  of  Kdma;  Rddhd,  Krishna's  darling,  the  lovely 
milkmaid.  The  last  two  names  are  mystical:  "thy  other 
half,"  "thy  Self,  in  feminine  form."  Chakri,  the  bird  that 
pines  and  dies  without  its  mate;  Kshetrabhutni,  an  idea 
hardly  intelligible  save  to  a  Hindoo.  It  means  an  exclxisive 
possession,  a  thing  to  use  and  abuse,  and  a  home:  a  sacred 
spot  of  mother  earth  and  cultivable  soil,  whose  memory  is 
twined  around  the  heart. 


2  10        The  Wax  of  a  New  Moon 

beauty,  and  wine  of  youth,  and  syrup  of  pleasure, 
and  salt  of  laughter,  bom  of  the  foam  of  the 
waves  and  the  lather  of  the  sea.^  And  I  will  be 
to  thee  a  nectar  and  a  camphor  and  a  lotus  and  a 
sweet,  and  show  thee  the  essence  and  the  savour 
of  thy  life ;  and  thou  shalt  own  that  without  me 
it  was  blank,  and  a  word  without  a  meaning,  and 
a  night  without  a  moon. 


And  then  the  King  took  her  head,  and  held  it 
in  his  hands.  And  he  looked  into  her  eyes,  and 
knew  that  her  words  were  a  confession  of  the 
truth.  And  suddenly,  with  a  violent  effort,  he 
tore  himself  away  from  her,  and  stood  up ;  for  the 
passion  of  his  joy  was  more  than  his  heart  could 
endure.  And  then  in  an  instant  he  returned  to 
her.  And  he  said:  Dear  cheti,  thou  hast  for- 
gotten something.  And  she  said:  What?  Then 
he  said :  Wilt  thou  not  take  a  lotus  for  thy  mis- 
tress from  the  pool? 

Then  Madhupamanjari  laughed  with  delight. 
And  she  said :  O  King,  thou  hast  said  well.  And 
they  turned  together,  and  moved  towards  the 
pool.  And  as  they  went,  the  King  looked  at  her, 
and  trembled.     And  he  said  to  himself:  Still  she 

>  A  passage  full  of  plays  on  words  and  mythological 
allusions. 


Shami  211 

has  not  kissed  me :  and  it  is  still  to  come.  Then 
they  drew  near  to  the  pool;  and  they  found  a 
lotus  growing  at  its  edge.  And  the  King  said: 
Thou  shalt  pluck  it,  and  I  will  hold  thee  in  my 
arms,  lest  thou  shouldst  fall  into  the  water.  And 
he  took  her  In  his  arms;  and  they  leaned  over 
the  pool.  And  Madhupamanjari  stretched  out 
her  hand  to  the  lotus.  Then  the  King  whispered 
in  her  ear :  See,  I  have  brought  thee  to  the  water, 
that  there  might  be  two  of  thy  faces  instead  of 
one.  Now,  which  shall  I  kiss,  and  which  will 
kiss  me,  the  ch^ti  or  the  queen  ? 

And  Madhupamanjari  plucked  the  lotus.     And 
she  turned  towards  him,  and  said :  Both. 


The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

A  Cycle  of  Birth 


^^  7f(ft  IT^  ^  •WB^^TW^^ 

and  in  a  dream  I  saw  a  lotus  fallen  from  heaven ' 


•13 


Dedicated  to  Margaret 


»>s 


iThe  illusion  of  a  waking  dream.) 


Utite  a  IBigit  of  tije  ^on 

Sn  tfje  ^IjaKob  oC  %  Ssctl) 
Spirit  unUttgoetfj  ^feoott 

Bn  tlje  Festibult  of  ISirtlj: 
Btfamet!)  ttansitorg  Wtavblt, 

ameawtfj  1§t«8  of  l^eaben,  fjttda 
Iftitfjtt,  tfjitfjet,  u  a  aSuHiIe 

®n  l|)e  ^ctatt  of  tftc  aEotUi. 


3T6 


INTRODUCTION 

Here  is  a  fairy  tale  which  I  found  in  an  old 
Hindoo  manuscript. 

As  the  title  shows,  it  is  a  solar  myth.  Literally 
translated,  its  name  is:  The  Glory  of  the  Going 
Down  of  the  Sun.  But  this  is  only  the  exoteric, 
physical  envelope  of  the  inner,  mystical  meaning, 
which  is :  The  Divine  Lustre  ^  of  th^  Descent  (In- 
carnation) of  Him  Who  took  Three  Steps:  i.  e. 
Wishnu,  or  the  Sun,  the  later  Krishna,  or  Hindoo 
Apollo.  And  this  epithet  of  the  Sun  is  explained 
by  the  well-known  passage  in  the  Rig-Weda  (I. 
22.  172),  "  Three  steps  did  Wishnu  stride:  thrice 
did  he  set  down  his  foot";  a  mythological  ex- 
pression for  the  rise,  the  zenith,  and  the  set  of  the 
Sun.     But  the  old  magnificent  simplicity  of  the 

«  Shri  also  means  a  Sacred  Lotus,  and  it  is  the  name  of 
the  twelfth  Digit  of  the  Moon;  thus  indicating  the  position 
of  this  story  in  the  series  to  which  it  belongs ;  for  an  account 
of  which,  and  the  manuscript,  I  may  refer  the  reader  to  the 
preface  to  its  predecessor  Shashini,  entitled  A  Digit  of  the 
Moon.     [See  p.  9.] 

2  Cp.  also  I.,  154,  155,  and  elsewhere.  It  should  be  ob- 
served that  learned  doctors  differ  as  to  the  interpretation  of 
the  three  strides:  but  this  is  not  the  place  to  examine  their 
views. 

ai7 


2i8  Introduction 

Rig-Weda  was  perverted  by  subsequent  Pauranik 
glosses;  and  Wishnu,  according  to  the  new  legend, 
was  said  to  have  cheated  his  adversary,  Bali,  by 
striding,  in  his  Dwarf  Incarnation,  over  the  three 
worlds.  In  our  title,  a  different  turn  is  given  to 
the  old  idea,  which  we  may  express  by  saying  that 
the  steps  commence,  not  with  the  rise,  but  the  set 
of  the  Sun :  his  Going  Down,  his  mysterious  period 
of  Darkness,  his  Rising  again.  This  is  the  in- 
verted Race,  or  Cycle  of  the  Sun,  which  so  much 
exercised  the  mind  of  primitive  man,  and  seemed 
to  be  a  symbol  of  the  mystery  of  Birth  and  Death. 
And  ours  is  a  strange  story;  which  seemed  to 
the  translator  not  unworthy  of  being  clothed  in 
an  English  dress,  containing  as  it  did  so  much  in 
little  bulk  that,  as  the  French  say,  donne  h  penser. 
Absolutely  Hindoo  in  its  form  and  spirit,  it  is  for 
an  Englishman  full  of  associations,  and  instinct 
with  that  philosophical  mythology,  scraps  and 
fragments  of  which  are  familiar  to  him  in  the 
story  of  the  Fall  and  the  poetry  of  Milton,  in 
many  an  old  fairy  tale,  in  some  touches  of  Pythag- 
oras and  Plato,  and  some  religious  legends.  Lux 
in  tenehris:  a  dazzling  light  in  the  most  profound 
darkness ;  the  night  of  the  sun ;  a  heavenly  body, 
doomed  to  put  on  mortality  and  suffer  for  a 
period  in  this  lower  world  of  darkness,  birth,  and 
death:   in  some  such  ways  as  these  we  may  ex- 


Introduction  219 

press  its  central  idea.  But  for  the  reader  not 
acquainted  with  Sanskrit  it  may  be  worth  while 
to  point  out  that  there  runs  throughout  it  a  veiled 
allegory,  which  he  would  not  be  apt  to  detect,  of 
the  teaching  of  the  Sankhya  Philosophy  of  Kapila 
(who  is  older  than  Thales) ;  according  to  which  it 
is  the  duty  of  Purusha,  the  archetype  of  the 
spirit  of  man  the  Primaeval  Male,  to  hunt  for  and 
pursue  Prakriti,  the  feminine  personification  of 
material  Nature,  the  Eternal  Feminine,  till  he 
finds  her;  when  instantly  she  disappears  "like  an 
actress."  ^  In  this  respect,  the  story  somewhat 
recalls  the  Gita-Gowind  of  Jayadewa,  which  ac- 
cording to  one  school  of  interpreters,  deals  with 
the  Soul,  personified  as  the  lovely  Radha,  in  its 
search  after  the  Divine.  For  among  the  Hindoos, 
the  earthly  and  the  heavenly  love  are  always 
confounded. 

And  let  not  any  one  suppose  that  the  lesson 
embodied  in  these  pages  is  obsolete  or  dead  in  the 
India  of  to-day,  I  wrote  the  last  lines  of  this 
translation  late  one  evening,  and  I  walked  out  in 
the  dusk  to  the  bridge  across  the  river,  about 
half  a  mile  away.     There  was  not  a  breath  of  air. 

>  From  this  point  of  view,  the  period  of  Night  would  be 
the  reign  of  Tamas,  one  of  the  three  great  categories  of  that 
philosophy:  the  Quality  of  Darkness,  as  opposed  to  Light; 
Ignorance,  as  opposed  to  Knowledge;  Evil,  as  opposed  to 
Good;   the  World  Below,  as  opposed  to  the  World  Above, 


220  Introduction 

It  was  a  night  as  still  as  that  which  long  ago 
Medea  chose  on  which  to  work  her  spells :  nothing 
moved  save  the  twinkling  stars;  all  below  was 
plunged  in  sleep,  every  tree  a  picture,  every  leaf 
seemed  carved  in  stone:  only,  every  now  and 
then,  a  flying-fox  burst  screeching  from  a  branch. 
And  as  I  stood  upon  the  bridge,  I  could  hear  a 
faint  din  of  tom-toms  coming  from  the  distant 
city  of  the  Peshwas.  I  looked  westwards,  up  the 
river.  The  stm  had  set,  leaving  behind  it  a  ruddy 
glare  which  faded  higher  up  the  sky  into  the 
darkness:  and  exactly  on  the  confines  of  the 
colours,  in  that  bath  of  nilalohita,  that  purple-red, 
which  is  a  favourite  epithet  of  the  god  Shiwa, 
hung,  like  a  thing  in  a  dream,  the  lovely  streak 
of  the  new  moon,  one  day  old.  All  was  reflected 
in  the  still  mirror  of  the  broad  sheet  of  water 
formed  by  the  river  Bund,  or  dam. 

I  turned  round.  On  the  eastern  side,  below 
the  bridge,  the  river  runs  in  disconnected  pools. 
All  was  buried  in  dark  and  gloom.  But  about 
two  hundred  yards  away,  on  the  right  bank,  there 
were  a  red  spot  and  leaping  flames.  They  were 
burning  on  the  bank  a  corpse,  whose  former  owner 
had  died  of  plague.  For  here  in  Poona  it  is  now, 
as  it  was  of  old  in  the  days  of  Homer,  aUl  Sk  irvpal 

VCKVCDV  KaLOVTO   dafXtULL. 

Suddenly  a  voice  said  behind  me:   They  bum 


Introduction  221 

well  on  a  cold  night.  I  looked  round.  Beside 
me  stood  a  Hindoo,  whose  real  name  I  do  not 
think  it  lawful  to  mention.  His  white  clothes 
were  stained  and  splashed  all  over  with  red,  for 
the  Holi  festival  had  left  its  mark  on  him. 

Why,  Wishwanath,  I  said,  what  are  you  doing 
here?  Or  have  you  come,  like  me,  merely  dekhne 
ke  wdste,  to  see  the  sun  set,  and  "eat  air"? 

Wishwanath  cast  a  careless  glance  at  the  sky. 
Yes,  he  said,  it  looks  well  from  here:  but  then 
I  have  seen  it  so  often.  It  was  a  new  moon 
yesterday. 

And  very  soon  it  will  be  old.  Look,  Wish- 
wanath, here  is  a  strange  thing.  See,  there  on 
that  side  is  the  moon,  following  the  sun  to  rest  in 
a  bath  of  fire,  and  they  will  both  appear  to- 
morrow all  the  better  for  it.  But  now,  look 
down  there.  There  is  another  thing  passing 
away  in  the  fire.     But  how  will  it  be  with  that  ? 

And  I  pointed  to  the  burning  pyre  on  the  other 
side. 

The  Hindoo  looked  steadily  at  it  for  a  moment, 
and  then  at  me.  It  will  be  just  the  same,  he 
said. 

What !  you  think  that  that  will  come  back  again, 
like  sun  and  moon? 

He  did  not  answer  for  a  moment.  Then  he 
said  slowly,  in  a  low  voice,  as  if  speaking  rather  to 


222  Introduction 

himself  than  me:    How  should  it  not  return?   na 
jdyate  mriyate  wa  kaddchit.^ 

I  looked  at  him,  but  said  nothing.  He  con- 
tinued to  gaze  steadily  at  the  burning  pyre,  in 
silence,  and  I  did  the  same.  The  flames  were 
dying  down :  their  work  was  done. 

Metempsychosis,  transmigration,  everlasting  in- 
carnation and  re-incarnation  of  the  immortal 
soul  in  body  after  body,  birth  after  birth:  all 
Hindoo  literature  is  but  the  kaleidoscopic  reitera- 
tion of  this  one  identical  idea,  whose  beauty  is  such 
that  no  logic  will  ever  destroy  it  or  oust  it  in  favour 
of  another.  For  the  Sanskrit  language  is  a  kind 
of  shrine,  consecrated  to  the  embodiment  and 
immortalisation  of  this  philosophical  myth.  The 
Hindoos  are  possessed  by  it ;  it  is  their  hereditary 
heirloom,  Kramdgatam,  the  legacy  from  an  im- 
memorial past :  it  is  all  that  they  have  left.  And 
nations,  like  the  characters  in  our  story,  cling 
desperately,  in  periods  of  degradation  and  eclipse, 
to  all  that  reminds  them  of  a  former  state  of  ideal 
prosperity,  which  Hngers  in  their  literature  and 
echoes  in  their  souls,  like  dim  recollections  of  a 
forgotten  paradise,  or  faint  reminiscences  of  a 
former  birth.  Distance  lends  enchantment,  and 
time   effaces  detail,   and   endows   stem  realities 

>  From  the  Bhagwad-Git^:   it  is  never  born  and  never  dies. 


Introduction  223 

with  dreamy  beauty;  and  thus  a  rugged,  stony 
past  fades  gradually  into  a  picture,  blue,  soft,  and 
unutterably  beautiful,  like  some  low,  barren  island, 
seen  far  away  in  the  haze,  over  a  hot  and  glittering 
sea. 

POONA, 

March  21,  igoj. 


Contents 

PAGB 

Sunset. — An  Evil  Eye 

.     227 

Night. — A  Sleep  and  a  Dream    . 

.     243 

I. 

A  Lotus  of  the  Day  . 

.     245 

II. 

By  Beat  of  Drum     . 

•     253 

III. 

An  Eclipse  of  the  Sun 

.  255 

IV. 

Inspiration 

.  265 

V. 

Nightwalker 

.  268 

VI. 

A  Lotus  of  the  Night 

.  278 

VII. 

The  Silver  Swans 

.  284 

VIII. 

The  Land  of  the  Lotus 

.  289 

IX. 

Recognition 

.  293 

X. 

Separation 

.  298 

XI. 

The  Lord  of  the  Beasts     . 

.  301 

XII. 

The  Other  Body 

•  303 

XIII. 

A  Light  in  Darkness 

.  311 

XIV. 

Illusion      .... 

.  317 

XV. 

The  Dead  of  Night    . 

.  321 

XVI. 

Before  Dawn     . 

.  323 

Dawn 

TNT A 



.  327 

_^t-    J.-     0 

[Note. — As  the  story  belongs,  by  its  title,  both  to  Sun 
and  Moon,  it  should  be  observed  that  the  Night  and  the  two 
Twilights,  Dusk  and  Dawn,  apply  to  both  in  opposite  ways. 
The  Moon  rises  when  the  Sun  sets,  reigns  over  the  Night 
when  he  is  buried  in  Darkness,  and  either  sets  or  vanishes 
when  he  is  risen  in  his  light.  For  the  Moon  is  the  typ>e  of 
Night,  or  this  lower  world  {ihaloka),  but  the  Sun,  of  Day, 
that  is,  of  the  other.] 


325 


Sunset 

An  Evil  Eye 


397 


Invocation 

O  glorious  and  infinite  Spirit  of  Peace,  Lord  of 
Ascetics,  who  whirling  round  in  thy  wild  dance  dost 
lend,  as  it  were,  its  colour  to  the  sky,  in  whose  mirror 
are  seen  reflected  the  blueness  of  thy  throat  and  the 
silver  digit  of  the  moon  in  the  matted  tufts  of  thy 
tawny  hair,  thee  we  adore.  And  we  worship  the 
ever  victorious  trunk  of  the  Elephant  of  Elephants, 
whose  fierce  glare  consumes  the  innumerable  hosts 
of  opposing  obstacles,  as  a  forest  fire  shrivels  the 
blades  of  dry  grass} 

Long  ago,  on  the  slopes  of  Himalaya,  there 
lived  a  young  King  of  the  Spirits  of  the  Air, 
named  Kamalamitra  2 ;  for  he  was  a  portion  of 
the  Sun.  And  he  worshipped  the  husband  of 
Uma.^  And  he  turned  his  back  on  the  pleasures 
of  the  senses,  and  went  afar  off,  and  dwelt  alone, 
among  the  icy  peaks  and  snowy  plateaux  that  Ue 
around  Kailas.     And  there  he  remained,  living 

'  For  Gan^sha's  trunk  is  usually  smeared  with  vermilion. 
The  other  deity  is,  of  course,  Shiwa. 

'  "The  lover  of  the  lotus,"  i.  e.,  the  Sun.  Mitra  is  also  one 
of  his  names.     [Kam-  rhymes  with  drum.] 

'  /.  e.,  Shiwa.     Umd  is  his  wife. 
339 


230         The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

at  first  upon  leaves,  and  then  upon  smoke,  and 
finally  upon  air,  performing  penances  of  appalling 
severity,  till  after  a  hundred  years  ^  that  Lord  of 
Creatures  was  moved  to  compassion.  And  he  ap- 
peared to  him,  in  the  twilight  of  evening,  in  the 
guise  of  an  ascetic,  but  in  stature  like  a  tall  tree, 
with  the  new  moon  in  his  hair,  and  said:  I  am 
pleased  with  thy  devotion,  so  now  I  grant  thee  a 
boon:  ask.  Then  the  young  King  bowed  before 
him,  and  said:  Blessed  One,  let  me  continue  in 
this  contemplation  of  thee :  that  is  enough.  Then 
said  Maheshwara :  This  is  well  said :  nevertheless, 
ask  of  me  some  boon.  Then  said  Kamalamitra: 
Since  it  is  so,  and  I  must  absolutely  choose,  then 
give  me  a  wife,  whose  eyes,  like  these  hills  and 
this  sky,  shall  be  full  of  the  dusky  lustre  2  of  thy 
throat  and  thy  moon,  as  if,  insatiate  of  gazing  at 
thee,  they  had  become,  not  transitory  mirrors, 
but  pictures  permanently  stained  with  thy  glory. 
For  so  shall  she  be  a  medium  of  devotion  between 
me  and  thee. 

Then  the  moon-crested  god  was  pleased.  But 
he  looked  into  the  future,  by  his  magic  power  of 

1  This  is  a  sort  of  Hindoo  fagon  de  parler:  it  must  not  be 
supposed  to  make  him  any  the  older. 

2  Nila.  As  this  colour  is  the  keynote  of  the  story,  it 
should  be  observed  that  it  is  a  deep,  intense  blue,  inclining 
to  black,  essentially  associated  in  Hindoo  literature  with  the 
moon-crested  god,  peacocks,  and  the  lotus. 


Sunset  231 

divination,  and  saw  what  was  coming.  And  he 
said  slowly:  Eyes  such  as  these  will  be  danger- 
ous, not  only  to  others,  but  also  to  their  owner. 
Nevertheless,  I  have  given  thee  a  boon:  thou 
shalt  have  thy  desire. 

Then  he  disappeared,  and  Kamalamitra  re- 
turned home  rejoicing.  And  by  the  favour  of  the 
deity  all  the  emaciation  and  fatigue  of  his  pen- 
ances left  him,  and  he  became  strong  as  Bhima 
and  beautiful  as  Arjuna.*  And  he  arrived  at  his 
palace  on  the  evening  of  the  next  day,  and  went 
into  the  garden  to  repose,  as  the  sun  was  going 
down.  And  as  he  went,  he  looked  before  him, 
and  suddenly  he  saw  a  woman  in  a  boat  of  san- 
dal, with  silver  oars,  floating  on  a  pool  of  white 
lotuses.  And  her  glances  fell  on  those  snowy 
flowers,  and  turned  their  tint  to  blue,  for  her  eyes 
were  lowered:  and  she  was  resting  her  chin  on 
one  hand  as  she  lay,  and  with  the  other  dropping 
one  by  one  into  the  water  the  petals  of  a  lotus  red 
as  blood.  And  the  round  curve  of  her  hip  stood 
up  like  a  sand-bank,  and  was  mirrored  again  in 
the  silent  water  below.  And  her  lips  moved,  for 
she  was  counting  the  petals  as  they  fell. 

And  Kamalamitra  stood  still,  holding  his 
breath,  and  gazing  at  her,  fearing  to  move,  for  he 
thought  it  was  a  dream.     Then  all  at  once  she 

'  Characters  in  the  Mahabharata. 


232  The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

looked  up  and  saw  him,  and  smiled,  bathing  him 
with  the  colour  of  her  eyes.  And  it  seemed  to 
Kamalamitra  that  he  stood  in  a  pool  of  colour 
formed  by  the  essence  of  all  the  blue  lotuses  in 
the  world.  And  then  suddenly  he  remembered 
the  boon  of  the  god  who  is  clothed  with  heaven, ^ 
and  he  exclaimed :  Surely  thou  art  my  own  wife, 
sent  me  by  the  god  who  keeps  his  promises,  and 
none  other.  For  yesterday  I  gazed  at  his  glory, 
and  now  I  am  gazing  at  thy  two  eyes,  and  it  is 
the  same.  And  if  it  be  so,  by  what  name  shall  I 
call  thee?  Then  she  said:  My  name  is  Anu- 
shayini,2  and  for  what  purpose  did  the  Creator  form 
these  eyes,  but  to  reflect  the  image  of  their  lord  ? 
Then  Kamalamitra,  having  thus  obtained  her 
from  the  deity,  took  possession  of  his  lovely  little 
wife,  and  thereafter  remained  with  her  in  the 
region  about  Kailas,  utterly  bewildered  and  in- 
toxicated by  constantly  gazing  at  those  mirrors 
of  deity,  her  two  great  eyes.  And  he  plunged  into 
their  sea,  and  was  drowned  in  it,  and  the  whole 
world  seemed  to  him  to  be  made  of  lotus  blue.^ 

>  Digantbara. 

*  "A  devoted  wife."  But  the  word  has  another  technical 
philosophical  significance:  it  connotes  evil,  clinging  to  the 
soul  by  reason  of  sin  in  a  former  birth,  and  begetting  the 
necessity  of  expiation  in  another  body. 

3  Kuwalayamayamjagat.  When  I  was  young,  sings  Bhar- 
trihari,  the  whole  world  seemed  to  me  to  be  made  of  woman 
{ndritnayam) . 


Sunset  233 

And  like  a  vessel  filled  to  the  brim  and  running 
over,  he  was  so  overflowing  with  delight  in  her 
beauty,  and  the  pride  of  having  so  unique  a 
specimen  of  womankind  all  to  himself,  that  he 
could  not  contain  his  emotion,  but  sought  relief 
in  going  about  everywhere,  talking  about  her,  and 
trying  to  get  everybody  to  acknowledge,  what  he 
thought  himself,  that  all  other  women  in  the 
world  were  absolutely  nothing  in  comparison  with 
his  own  wife.  Alas!  a  woman  is  one  thing,  and 
emancipation  quite  another. 

So  it  happened,  that  on  a  day  when  he  was 
disputing  about  her  with  one  of  his  friends,  and 
abusing  him  for  not  readily  admitting  all  his  own 
eulogies  of  his  wife,  that  friend  of  his  suddenly 
burst  out  laughing,  and  exclaimed :  For  all  things 
there  is  a  cure,  even  for  snake-bite  there  is  a  cure, 
but  there  is  no  cure  for  one  who  has  been  bitten 
with  a  woman's  beauty.  Know,  O  thou  in- 
fatuated lover,  that  the  golden  glamour  of  our 
Other  Half,  Man's  ectype.  Woman,  is  not  like  a 
simple  musical  theme,  but  one  infinitely  various, 
containing  ten  thousand  notes,  and  stirring  like 
a  chuming-stick  all  the  emotions  in  the  ocean  of 
the  soul  of  man.  And  however  beautiful  may  be 
thy  wife's  eyes,  still  eyes  are  only  eyes,  and  a 
woman  is  not  all  eye,  but  something  more.  For 
one  woman  witches  us,  like  a  waterfall,  with  the 


234  The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

music  of  her  bubbling  laughter,  and  another  en- 
trances us,  like  a  forest-pool,  with  the  peace  of 
her  shadowy  silence.  And  one  entangles  us,  like 
Yama,^  in  the  nectar-nooses  of  her  hair,  while 
another  pierces  us,  like  Manobhawa,^  with  the 
archery  of  her  poisoned  eyes.  And  one  inflames 
us,  like  the  Sun,  in  the  fever-fiPe  of  sick  desire, 
while  another  soothes  us,  like  the  Moon,  by  the 
camphor  of  her  dewy  kisses.  And  like  oxen,  we 
are  goaded  by  the  biting  sting  of  one  woman's 
evil,  and  like  elephants,  we  are  tamed  by  the 
subtle  spell  of  another's  purity;  and  like  birds, 
we  are  decoyed  by  the  lure  of  the  bower  of  one 
girl's  arms,  and  like  bees,  we  hover  and  sip 
around  the  honey  of  another's  lips,  and  like 
snakes,  we  wind  and  coil  ^  round  the  slender  stem 
of  one  girl's  waist,  and  like  weary  travellers,  we 
long  to  sleep  on  the  living  pillow  of  another's 
bosom.  Then  Kamalamitra  broke  in  impatiently : 
Away  with  the  fascinations  of  all  the  women  in 
the  three  worlds,  past,  present,  or  to  come! 
Could  they  unite  to  form  the  very  body  of  the 
god  of  love,  yet  the  eyes  of  Anushayini,  alone, 
would,  like  the  eye  of  the  enemy  of  Kaudarpa,* 

>  Death,  who  is  represented  with  a  noose  {pdshd). 

2  Love,  whose  weapon  is  his  bow. 

3  There  is  here  an  untranslatable  play  on  the  word  bhoga: 
which  means  both  the  coil  of  a  snake  and  enjoyment. 

*  Alluding  to  the  legend  that  Shiwa  annihilated  the  god  of 
love,  who  was  endeavouring  to  inflame  him,  by  a  fiery  glance 


Sunset  235 

reduce  them  to  ashes.  Aye!  those  eyes,  with 
their  blue  irresistible  invitation,  would  succeed 
in  corrupting  sages,  where  Menaka,  Tilottamd.,^ 
and  the  rest  had  failed. 

Then  his  friend  laughed  in  derision,  and  said: 
Boasting  is  useless,  and  in  words  all  men  can  do 
everything,  and  every  woman  is  another  Ram- 
bh.4.2  Babble  no  more  of  her  beauty,  but  come, 
let  your  paragon  of  a  wife  put  her  power  to  the 
proof.  For  hard  by  here,  in  the  wood  on  the 
hillside,  is  an  aged  Sage,  named  Papanashana,^ 
whose  austerities  terrify  even  the  gods.  He  would 
be  an  admirable  touchstone  for  the  eyes  of  this 
wonderful  wife  of  yours,  whose  beauty  exists, 
like  a  bubble,  only  on  the  stream  of  your  words. 

And  then,  stung  by  the  taunt,  Kamalamitra 
exclaimed  in  wrath:  Fool!  if  she  does  not  turn 
him  from  his  asceticism  as  easily  as  amber  draws 
after  it  stubble  and  grass,  I  will  cut  off  my 
own  head  and  cast  it  into  the  Ganges.  Then  his 
friend  laughed  again,  and  said :  Do  nothing  rash, 

from  his  third  eye.  Love's  sacred  fire  met  in  this  case,  for 
once,  with  an  element  more  potent  than  his  own. 

>  The  legend  of  St.  Antony  is  but  a  Western  echo  of  the 
stories  of  these  nymphs,  whom  the  jealous  gods  employed 
as  weapons  to  destroy  the  virtue  of  sages  whose  accumulated 
asceticism  was  becoming  mountainous  and  dangerous.  Like 
the  Devil,  and  long  before  him,  they  baited  the  hook  with  a 
pretty  woman. 

*  See  the  Ramayan,  Book  I. 

»  "Destroyer  of  guilt." 


236  The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

thou  art  not  Daksha  ^ :  once  gone,  thy  head  can 
never  be  restored.  But  Kamalamitra  hurried 
away  to  find  Anushayini.  And  he  found  her  in 
the  garden  by  the  lotus  pool,  and  told  her  of  his 
brag,  and  said:  Come  instantly,  and  make  the 
experiment,  and  vindicate  the  power  of  those 
wonderful  eyes  of  thine,  and  my  own  faith  in 
them,  without  delay.  For  I  burn  to  convict 
that  foolish  sceptic  of  his  folly,  by  ocular  demon- 
stration. 

Then  Anushayini  said  slowly:  Dear  husband, 
thou  wert  angry,  and  therefore  indiscreet,  and  I 
fear  lest,  by  doing  evil,  we  may  bring  on  ourselves 
punishment.  For  expiation  follows  guilt,  as 
surely  as  Orion  treads  on  the  heels  of  Rohini.^ 
There  is  sin  and  danger  in  this  rash  experiment. 
And  now  it  will  be  better  for  us  not  to  venture 
upon  the  verge  of  a  precipice,  over  which  we  may 
both  fall  into  irreparable  disaster. 

But  as  she  spoke,  her  eyes  rested  on  Kamala- 
mitra, and  bewildered  him,  and  destroyed  the 
persuasion  of  her  words.  For  he  heard  nothing 
that  she  said,  but  was  full  of  the  blindness  of 
passion,  and  more  than  ever  convinced  of  the 
omnipotence  of  her  beauty.     And  so,  seeing  that 

1  Whose  true  head  was  cut  off  and  replaced  by  that  of  a 
ram. 

2  An  astronomical  simile:  the  ninth  and  tenth  signs  of  the 
lunar  zodiac. 


Sunset  237 

she  could  not  turn  him  from  his  will,  Anushayini 
gave  in,  and  yielded  to  him  as  to  her  deity. 
Nay,  in  the  interior  of  her  heart  she  rejoiced  to 
find  that  she  could  not  dissuade  him,  for  she  was 
filled  with  curiosity  herself,  to  see  whether  in 
truth  her  beauty  woiild  prevail  over  the  ascetic, 
though  she  trembled  for  the  consequences.  Alas ! 
where  beauty,  and  curiosity,  and  youth,  and 
self-will,  and  intoxication  combine,  like  a  mad 
elephant,  where  is  the  cotton  thread  of  self- 
control  ? 

Then  those  two  lovers  kissed  each  other  passion- 
ately, like  travellers  who  had  been  separated  for 
a  year.  And  yet  they  knew  not  that  they  were 
doing  so  for  the  last  time.  And  then  they  went 
together  to  the  forest,  to  find  that  old  ascetic. 
And  hand-in-hand  they  rambled  about,  like  a 
pair  of  LxDve's  arrows  in  human  form,^  till  they 
penetrated  to  the  very  heart  of  that  wood.  And 
there  on  a  sudden  they  came  upon  that  old  sage, 
and  saw  him  standing,  plunged  in  meditation, 
motionless  as  a  tree.  And  around  him  the  ants 
had  built  up  their  hills,  and  his  beard  and  hair 
trailed  from  his  head,  like  creepers,  and  ran  down 
along  the  ground,  and  were  covered  with  leaves: 

>  They  were  not  human,  but  semi-divine:  still,  it  is  impos- 
sible to  express  the  idea  of  incarnation  except  in  terms  of 
humanity. 


238  The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

and  over  his  withered  limbs  played  a  pair  of 
lizards,  like  living  emeralds.  And  he  looked 
straight  before  him,  with  great  eyes  that  mir- 
rored everything,  but  saw  nothing,  clear  and 
tmfathomable  and  still,  like  mountain  tarns  in 
which  all  the  fish  are  asleep. 

And  Kamalamitra  and  Anushayini  looked  at 
him  awhile  in  silence,  and  then  at  each  other,  and 
trembled,  for  they  knew  that  they  were  staking 
their  souls.  But  as  he  wavered,  the  thought  of 
his  friend's  derision  came  back  into  Kamalamitra 's 
mind,  and  filled  him  with  anger.  And  he  said  to 
Anushayini:  Advance,  and  let  this  old  muni  ^  see 
you,  and  I  will  mark  the  result. 

So  Anushayini  went  forward,  obeying  his  com- 
mand, and  stepped  over  the  leaves  with  feet  lighter 
than  themselves,  till  she  stood  in  front  of  the  sage. 
And  when  she  saw  that  he  did  not  move,  she 
raised  herself  on  tiptoe  to  look  into  his  eyes,  say- 
ing to  herself:  Possibly  he  is  dead.  And  she 
looked  into  those  eyes,  and  saw  there  nothing 
save  two  images  of  herself,  like  two  incarnations 
of  timidity,  that  seemed  to  say  to  her  as  it  were : 
Beware!  And  as  she  stood  there,  trembling  in 
the  swing  of  uncertainty,  Kamalamitra  watched 
her  with  ecstasy,  and  laughed  to  himself;    and 

«  "Man  of  silence,"  which,  according  to  Kalidas  and  Bhar- 
trihari,  is  the  golden  rule,  whether  for  fools  or  sages. 


Sunset  239 

said :  Certainly  that  old  muni  is  no  longer  alive, 
for  otherwise  she  would  have  reached  his  soul 
through  the  door  of  his  eyes,  were  it  down  in  the 
lower  world. 

So  as  they  stood  there,  waiting,  gradually  that 
old  sage  came  to  himself:  for  he  felt  that  his 
meditations  were  being  disturbed  by  something 
or  other.  And  he  looked,  and  saw  Anushayini 
standing  before  him  like  the  new  moon  at  the 
close  of  day,  a  pure  form  of  exquisite  beauty,^  a 
crystal  without  a  flaw,  tinged  with  the  colour  of 
heaven.  And  instantly,  by  the  power  of  his  own 
mystical  meditation,  he  divined  the  whole  truth, 
and  the  exact  state  of  the  case.  And  he  cast  at 
that  wayward  beauty  a  glance,  sorrowful  as  that 
of  a  deer,  yet  terrible  as  a  thunderbolt :  and  im- 
mediately courage  fled  from  her  soul,  and  strength 
from  her  knees,  and  she  sank  to  the  groimd  with 
drooping  head,  like  a  lotus  broken  by  the  wind. 

But  Kamalamitra  rushed  forward,  and  caught 
her  in  his  arms.  Then  as  they  stood  together, 
the  old  ascetic  spoke  and  cursed  them,  saying 
slowly:  Irreverent  lovers,  now  shall  that  beauty 
which  occasioned  this  insolence  meet  with  its 
appropriate    reward.     Descend    now,    ye    guilty 

'  Sushamdsheshd  :  an  incomparable  expression,  meaning, 
as  applied  to  the  thin  streak  of  the  new  moon  at  dusk,  that 
everything  of  it  was  gone  except  its  beauty:  venustas,  ei 
prceterea  nihil! 


240         The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

ones,  into  mortal  wombs,  and  suffer  in  the  lower 
world  the  pangs  of  separation,  till  ye  have  purged 
away  your  guilt  in  the  fire  of  human  sorrow. 

Then  hearing  the  doom  of  separation,  wild  with 
grief  they  fell  at  his  feet,  and  implored  him,  say- 
ing: Fix  at  least  a  term  to  the  ciirse,  and  a  period 
to  our  pain.  And  he  said  again:  When  one  of 
you  shall  slay  the  other,  the  curse  shall  end. 

Then  those  two  unhappy  lovers  looked  at  each 
other  in  mute  despair.  And  they  drew  in  that 
instant  from  each  other's  eyes  a  deep  draught 
of  the  nectar  of  mutual  contemplation,  as  if  to 
sustain  them  in  their  pilgrimage  over  the  terrible 
sea  of  separation,  saying,  as  it  were,  to  each  other, 
but  in  vain  :  ^  Remember  me !  Then  all  of  a 
sudden  they  disappeared  and  went,  like  flashes  of 
lightning,  somewhere  else. 

But  Maheshwara,  from  his  seat  on  Kailas,  saw 
them  go,  for  as  fate  would  have  it,  he  chanced  to 
be  looking  in  that  direction.  And  grasping  the 
whole  truth  by  mystical  intuition, 2  he  remem- 
bered his  boon  to  the  Spirit  of  the  Air,  and  he  said 

>  Because  the  former  birth  is  always  forgotten.  But  see 
the  sequel. 

*  This  power  of  gods  and  ascetics  of  a  high  order,  fre- 
quently alluded  to,  reposes  upon  yoga,  i.  e.,  intense  concentra- 
tion, which  is  the  secret  of  Pdtanjali.  There  is  a  kernel  of 
truth  in  it,  after  all. 


Sunset  241 

to  himself:  Now  has  the  future  which  I  foresaw 
become  the  present,^  and  the  blue  eyes  of  Anu- 
shayini  have  produced  a  catastrophe.  But  I  must 
not  leave  her  lovely  body  to  the  play  of  chance, 
for  it  has  in  it  something  of  my  own  divinity. 
And  Kamalamitra,  after  all,  was  not  very  much 
to  blame.  For  he  was  bewildered  by  my  glory, 
reflected  in  her  eyes.  So  I  am  the  culprit,  who  is 
responsible  for  this  state  of  affairs :  and  so  I  must 
look  after  this  pair  of  lovers.  Moreover,  I  have 
a  mind  to  amuse  myself  with  their  adventures. 2 

So  after  considering  awhile,  that  Master  Yogi 
took  a  lotus,  and  placing  it  on  the  earth  in  a  dis- 
tant sea,  it  became  an  island.  And  he  made  in 
it,  by  his  magic  power,  an  earthly  copy  of  a  heav- 
enly type,  of  a  nature  known  to  himself  alone,  for 
the  future  to  unfold.  And  having  completed  his 
arrangements,  he  allowed  the  chain  of  events  to 
take  its  course. 

But  the  old  sage  Pd,pan^shana,  when  those  two 
lovers  had  disappeared,  remained  in  the  forest 
alone.  And  their  images  forsook  the  mirror  of 
his  eyes,  and  faded  away  from  his  mind,  like  the 
shadow  of  a  cloud  travelling  over  the  surface  of 
a  great  lake,  and  vanished,  and  were  utterly 
forgotten. 

1  Time  is  another  name  of  Shiwa. 

*  The  whole  creation,  according  to  Manu  (i.,  80)  is  the 

sport  of  the  deity. 
16 


Night 

A  Sleep  and  a  Dream 


243 


A   LOTUS    OF   THE   DAY 

But  Anushayini,!  when  she  disappeared  in  the 
forest,  fell  down  to  earth  like  a  falling  star,  and 
entered  the  womb  of  the  favourite  wife  of  the 
King  of  Indiralaya,2  and  was  bom  after  the  man- 
ner of  mortals  as  his  daughter.  And  at  that 
moment  she  lit  up  the  birth  chamber  with  the 
radiance  diffused  from  her  body,  which  put  the 
lamps  to  shame.  And  the  nurses  and  waiting 
women  were  astonished,  for  wonderful  to  say! 
the  lids  of  the  child's  eyes  were  fringed  with  long 
black  lashes,  looking  like  rain-clouds  hanging  low 
to  hide  the  rising  moon.  And  suddenly  those 
lashes  rose  like  a  curtain,  and  there  came  from 
beneath  them  a  flood  of  blue  colour,  which  per- 
vaded the  room  like  the  odour  of  camphor  and 
sandal-wood  made  visible  to  the  eye,  and  over- 

>  That  is,  her  soul,  as  distinguished  from  her  body:  that 
part  of  her  which,  according  to  Plato  and  the  Bhagwad- 
Gita  (more  logical  than  modem  theologians)  is  never  born 
and  never  dies. 

'  The  home  of  Shri,  i.  e.,  a  blue  lotus,  which  is  so  called 
because  the  goddess  Shrf  appeared  floating  in  one  at  the 
Creation. 

24<i 


246         The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

came  the  senses  of  all  that  stood  by,  till  they  were 
within  a  little  of  swooning  away.  And  like  men 
lying  on  their  backs  and  gazing  into  the  depths 
of  the  sky,  they  felt,  as  it  were,  enveloped  in  the 
colour  of  heaven,  and  lost  their  perception  of 
mundane  affairs.  For  though  they  knew  it  not, 
they  were  looking  at  the  reflection  of  the  glory 
of  the  moon-crested  god. 

So  they  all  stood  round  in  silence,  watching  the 
child's  eyes.  And  at  last,  the  King,  and  his  min- 
isters, and  his  physicians  and  astrologers,  drew  a 
long  breath,  and  looked  at  each  other  in  amaze- 
ment. And  the  prime  minister  said:  King,  this 
is  a  wonderful  thing.  For  these  eyes  are  the 
eyes,  not  of  a  child,  but  of  a  sage,^  or  rather,  of 
a  god.  And  surely  this  is  no  mere  mortal  maiden, 
but  rather  some  deity,  or  portion  of  a  deity, 
smitten  by  a  curse,  and  doomed  thereby  to  de- 
scend for  a  period  into  this  lower  world,  to  ex- 
piate awhile  sins  committed  in  a  former  birth. 
For  such  things  often  come  about.  And  beyond 
a  doubt  your  Majesty  is  favoured,  in  being 
chosen  by  the  deity  to  be  the  means  of  his  in- 
carnation. Then  hearing  this  speech  of  his  min- 
ister,  whose  words  were   always   suited   to   the 

«  Shdnta:  one  who  has  quelled  the  passions  and  attained 
peace.  Of  such,  Shiwa  is  the  chief.  But  the  minister  drew 
his  bow  at  a  venture,  and  knew  not  how  he  hit  the  mark. 


A  Lotus  of  the  Day  247 

events,  the  King  was  excessively  delighted.  And 
he  celebrated  the  birth  of  his  daughter  with  ex- 
traordinary magnificence,  and  gave  gold  and  vil- 
lages to  Brahmans  and  the  poor.  And  taking 
counsel  with  his  astrologers  and  Brahman  sages 
skilled  in  names  and  their  applications,  he  gave 
to  his  daughter  the  auspicious  name  of  Shri.^ 
For  he  said :  Her  eyes  are  like  lotuses,  and  like 
the  pools  in  which  they  dwell;  and  surely  they 
are  the  very  echo  of  the  eyes  of  the  Goddess  of 
Beauty  when  she  rose  from  the  sea,  and  lay  in  her 
blue  lotus  cradle,  lapped  by  the  foam  of  which 
she  was  composed,  and  gazing  at  the  wondering 
waves  with  eyes  that  mocked  them,  and  robbed 
them  of  their  hue. 

Then  time  passed  away,  and  the  years  with  the 
seasons  followed  each  other  like  caravans  over  the 
desert,  and  old  age  and  grey  hair  came  and  took 
up  their  dwelling  at  the  wrinkled  root  of  the  King's 
ear.  And  meanwhile  Shri  grew  from  a  child  into 
a  girl,  and  at  length  the  dawn  of  her  womanhood 
broke.  And  like  the  horns  of  the  waxing  moon, 
her  limbs  rounded  and  swelled  into  the  very  per- 
fect orb  of  supreme  loveliness,  and  she  became, 
as  it  were,  the  very  salt  of  the  sea  of  beauty,^ 

>  Hence  the  name  of  the  city,  above. 

2  Beauty  and  salt,  in  the  original,  are  denoted  by  the  same 
word. 


248         The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

inspiring  in  all  who  drank  of  it  insatiable  thirst, 
and  an  intolerable  craving  for  the  water  of  the 
blue  lakes  of  her  eyes.  And  at  last  there  came  a 
day  when  the  King  her  father  looked  at  her,  and 
said  to  himself:  The  fniit  is  ripe:  and  now  it  is 
time  that  it  was  plucked  and  eaten. 

So  he  went  to  the  apartments  of  the  women,  to 
find  her  mother,  his  principal  Queen,  Madirek- 
shana.*  But  when  she  learned  the  object  of  his 
coming,  the  Queen  said:  Aryaputra,^  it  is  useless. 
For  our  daughter  will  not  even  listen  to  the  word 
"husband,"  much  less  undergo  the  thing.  The 
King  said:  What  is  this?  Should  the  cornfield 
refuse  the  plough,  or  a  maiden  refuse  to  be  mar- 
ried? Is  she  not  now  of  ripe  age,  and  does  not  a 
grown-up  maiden  in  the  house  bring  upon  herself 
and  her  relations  infamy  in  this  world  and  the 
next?  Madirekshana  said:  Speak  to  her  your- 
self, and  persuade  her  to  it  if  you  can.  For 
of  her  own  accord  she  told  me  that  her  mar- 
riage was  a  thing  not  to  be  thought  of,  even  in 
a  dream. 

So  the  King  sent  for  his  daughter,  to  question 
her  himself. 

And  after  a  while,  Shri  came  in,  undulating  as 

•  That  is,  "a  woman  with  sweet  seductive  eyes." 

2  A  pretty  term  employed  by  ladies  in  addressing  their 

lords:    "son  of  an  arya,  a  gentleman."     It  has  no  English 

equivalent. 


A  Lotus  of  the  Day  249 

she  moved  like  a  swan.^  and  swaying  like  a 
flower  waving  in  the  wind :  for  her  waist  could  be 
grasped  by  the  fist,  and  her  bosom  was  glorious, 
like  the  swell  of  an  ocean  wave.  And  like  a  child 
she  smiled  at  her  father  2  with  parted  lips  and 
half -shut  eyes,  casting  before  her  through  the  net 
of  their  lashes  the  magical  charm  of  the  colour  of 
a  wet  lotus :  and  her  girdle  jingled  as  if  with  joy, 
while  the  flashing  jewels  with  which  she  was 
covered  all  over  changed  colour,  as  if  with  envy 
at  being  outshone  by  the  play  ^  of  her  eyes. 
And  the  old  King  looked  at  her  with  pride  and 
wonder  and  delight ;  and  laughed  to  himself,  and 
said:  Wonderful  is  the  cunning  of  the  Creator, 
and  incomprehensible  the  mystery  of  a  woman's 
beauty!  For  I  am  old,  and  I  am  her  father,  and 
yet  I  feel  before  her  like  a  domestic  servant  in 
the  presence  of  a  ruler  of  the  world.  Surely  she 
would  drive  a  young  man  into  madness  and 
ecstasy.  And  did  the  Creator,  forsooth!  form 
this  incarnation  of  the  intoxication  of  woman  to 
no  purpose?  Surely  she  is  a  husband's  ideal 
correlative  in  human  form!     And  then  he  said  to 

'  The  old  Hindoos  had  a  special  admiration  and  a  special 
term  {hansagamini)  for  a  woman  who  walked  like  a  swan. 

2  There  is  here  an  untranslatable  play  on  the  word  kama- 
lahdsa,  which  means  both  the  opening  of  a  lotus  bud,  and  an 
irresistible  smile. 

'  Wyatikara,  a  word  expressive  of  the  varying  lustre  or 
wavering  coruscation  of  jewels. 


250         The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

her :  My  daughter,  it  is  high  time  that  you  were 
married :  for  an  unmarried  daughter  is  a  scandal 
in  her  father's  house. 

Then  said  Shri :  Dear  father,  do  not  speak  thus. 
Let  me  live  and  die  a  maiden,  for  I  do  not  wish 
to  be  married.^  The  King  said:  Daughter,  what 
is  this  that  you  are  saying?  Is  not  a  husband 
the  very  object  of  your  birth?  Shri  said :  Do  not 
even  dream  of  a  husband  for  me.  And  there  is 
a  reason  for  this :  for  I  am  different  from  other 
maidens.  And  hearing  this,  the  King  was  per- 
plexed. And  he  looked  at  Shri  under  his  brows, 
and  said  to  himself:  She  speaks  truth.  Cer- 
tainly this  daughter  of  mine,  if  she  be  mine,^  is 
not  like  other  maidens.  For  who  ever  saw  her 
equal  in  beauty,  or  who  ever  heard  of  a  maiden 
objecting  to  be  married  ?  ^  Or  was  my  minister 
right,  and  is  she  really  some  deity  in  disguise? 

So  day  after  day  he  continued  to  urge  her  and 
argue  with  her.  But  at  last,  finding  that  his 
efforts  to  move  her  were  as  vain  as  if  he  were 

»  Cf.  Callimachus: 

Adf  lioi  wapBsviriv  aiioviov,  airira,  <t>vXa<Ta'fi,v. 

2  This  touch  arises  from  the  beautiful  word  for  a  daughter, 
dtmajd,  i.  e.,  she  that  is  born  from  yourself. 

3  A  case,  perhaps,  not  absolutely  unknown  in  the  West: 
though  beauty,  like  a  fortress,  must  always  like  to  be  flat- 
tered by  a  siege.  But  in  the  land  of  the  Hindoos,  marriage 
is  like  being  born  or  dying,  a  matter  of  course,  a  thing  neces- 
sary, inevitable,  essential,  quod  semper,  quod  uhique,  quod  ab 
omnibus. 


A  Lotus  of  the  Day  251 

trying  to  pierce  a  diamond  with  a  cotton  thread, 
he  exclaimed  in  dismay:  Surely  my  crimes  in  a 
former  birth  were  numerous  and  appalling,  seeing 
that  their  fruit  is  a  daughter  whose  obstinate  and 
unintelligible  prejudice  against  a  husband  runs 
counter  to  the  nature  of  woman,  and  will  be  the 
means  of  destroying  my  salvation.  Then  at  last 
Shri  said :  Dear  father,  do  not  be  angry,  and  I  will 
tell  you  the  truth.  Know  that  I,  too,  wish  for  a 
husband,  but  only  for  one  husband,  and  no  other. 
Then  said  the  King:  And  who,  then,  is  that  hus- 
band? Shri  said:  I  do  not  know.  But  he  will 
come  to  claim  me,  from  the  Land  of  the  Lotus  of 
the  Sun.^  And  where,  said  the  King,  is  the  Land 
of  the  Lotus  of  the  Sun?  Shri  said :  I  cannot  tell. 
But  in  a  dream  I  saw  a  lotus  fall  from  heaven, 
and  I  heard  a  divine  voice  saying  to  me :  Do  not 
hurry,  but  wait:  for  there  shall  come  to  you  a 
husband,  from  the  Land  of  the  Lotus  of  the  Sun. 
For  he  was  your  husband  in  a  former  birth,  and 
you  shall  know  him  by  a  sign.  Then  the  King 
said:   And  what  is  the  sign?     Shri  said:    I  may 

«  There  is,  in  the  original  here,  a  nuance  not  susceptible  of 
direct  translation.  According  to  the  Hindoos,  lotuses  are 
divided  into  those  of  the  Day  and  Night,  whose  lovers  are 
the  Sun  and  Moon.  The  Lotus  in  question  is  a  Sun-lotus 
^'between  the  Twilights,"  i.  e.,  buried  in  night  and  deprived 
of  the  presence  of  the  Sun.  An  allusion  to  the  title  of  the 
story  is  thus  introduced.  But  all  this  cannot  be  expressed 
in  English,  as  it  can  in  Sanskrit,  by  a  single  word. 


252  The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

not  tell,  for  it  is  known  only  to  the  Deity  and  me. 
But  now,  either  abandon  my  marriage,  or  if  you 
can,  find  me  a  man  who  has  seen  the  Land  of  the 
Lotus  of  the  Sun,  of  caste  becoming  a  king's 
daughter,  and  he  shall  be  my  husband.  For  him 
only  will  I  marry,  and  none  other. 

And  when  the  King  heard  this,  he  was  aston- 
ished, and  sat  silent,  looking  at  Shri.  And  he 
said  to  himself:  This  is  a  strange  story,  and  the 
conduct  of  this  mysterious  daughter  of  mine  is 
inscrutable.  What  is  this  Land  of  the  Lotus  of 
the  Sun?  Is  it  a  fancy,  the  capricious  dream  of 
a  girl  ?  Or  does  the  dream  really  point  to  a  previ- 
ous existence  ?  And  he  thought  for  a  while,  and 
then  he  said  again :  Perhaps  it  is  better  to  do  as 
she  says,  and  endeavour  to  discover  a  man  who 
has  seen  that  Land.  For  where  is  the  harm?  For 
even  if  he  is  found,  there  will  always  be  time  to 
consider.  And,  moreover,  in  this  way  it  may  be 
that  she  wili  obtain  a  husband,  whereas  she  will 
certainly  not  get  married  in  any  other.  Better  that 
she  should  get  a  husband,  no  matter  how,  no  mat- 
ter who,  than  remain  a  maiden  to  destroy  us  all. 

Then  he  dismissed  his  daughter,  and  sum- 
moned his  chamberlains,  and  said  to  them:  Get 
criers,  and  send  them  through  the  city,  and  let 
them  proclaim  by  beat  of  drum :  That  any  high- 
caste  man,  who  has  seen  the  Land  of  the  Lotus  of 


By  Beat  of  Drum  253 

the  Sun,  shall  share  my  kingdom,  and  marry  my 
daughter.  And  his  chamberlains  wondered  at 
hearing  the  order.  But  they  went  immediately, 
and  told  the  criers  the  order  of  the  King. 

II 

BY   BEAT   OF   DRUM 

So  the  criers  went  through  the  streets  of  the 
capital,  beating  drums  and  crying  aloud:  What- 
soever high-caste  man  has  been  to  the  Land  of  the 
Lotus  of  the  Sun,  let  him  come  to  the  King:  he  shall 
share  the  King's  kingdom,  and  marry  the  King's 
daughter.  And  hearing  the  proclamation,  all  the 
citizens  and  strangers  in  the  city  marvelled  as 
they  listened.  For  the  fame  of  the  beauty  of  the 
King's  daughter  had  gone  out  into  the  three 
worlds.  And  buzzing  like  bees,  they  thronged 
around  the  criers,  and  ran  up  and  down,  every- 
body asking  everybody  else:  What  is  this  Land 
of  the  Lotus  of  the  Sun?  Where  is  it,  or  who 
has  seen  it?  And  a  great  uproar  arose  in  the 
streets  of  the  city,  and  they  were  full  of  noise  and 
shouting:  and  the  news  was  carried  into  the 
neighbouring  kingdoms,  and  immediately  crowds 
of  people  poured  into  Indiralaya  from  every  part 
of  Mdlwd  and  the  Deckan  and  the  North,  and 
every  quarter  of  the  world,  and  together  with  the 


254         The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

merchants  and  the  working  castes,  who  all 
abandoned  their  ordinary  business,  gathered  in 
knots  and  stood  about,  asking  eagerly  for  news 
of  that  Lotus  Land,  and  its  nature,  and  its  lo- 
cality, and  its  peculiarities.  But  no  one  could 
be  found  who  had  ever  even  heard  of  it,  much 
less  seen  it.  So  day  by  day  the  proclamation 
sounded  in  the  streets :  and  all  day  long  the  city 
was  full  of  the  din  of  shouting  criers  and  beaten 
drums,  and  all  night  long  sleep  fled  from  the  eyes 
of  the  citizens,  as  if  in  disgust  at  the  noise  that 
they  made  by  day.  But  all  was  in  vain:  for  not 
a  man  could  they  find,  nor  did  any  one  come  for- 
ward to  say:  I  have  seen  that  Lotus  Country: 
give  me  the  reward. 

And  at  last  the  citizens  became  enraged,  alike 
with  the  King,  and  his  daughter,  and  the  Land 
of  the  Lotus,  and  themselves.  And  seeing  this, 
the  old  King  fell  sick  with  anxiety;  and  he  said 
to  himself:  My  pretty  daughter  is  as  cunning  as 
she  is  beautiful,  and  beyond  a  doubt  this  is 
some  trick  devised  by  her,  to  appease  me,  and 
avoid  her  bugbear  of  a  husband,  and  befool  us  all 
And  now  I  fear  that  in  their  fury  my  subjects 
may  break  out  into  revolt,  and  refuse  to  pay 
taxes,  or  depose  me.  Out  on  my  daughter  and 
her  blue  eyes,  and  the  cunning  of  women  and 
their  crooked  hearts!     Is  there  any  such  land  in 


An  Eclipse  of  the  Sun  255 

the  world  as  this  Land  of  the  Lotus  of  the  Sun, 
of  which  in  all  my  dominions,  haunted  by  mer- 
chants and  strangers  from  every  quarter  of  the 
earth,  no  one  has  ever  even  so  much  as  heard? 

Ill 

AN   ECLIPSE   OF   THE    SUN 

Now  Kamalamitra,  when  he  was  separated 
from  Anushayini  by  the  curse  of  the  ascetic,  fell 
down  to  earth,  and  was  born  as  the  son  of  a  King 
of  the  Solar  Race  in  a  distant  country.  And  his 
father  gave  him  the  name  of  Umra-Singh,^  for 
the  astrologers  said:  He  will  live  on  earth  like  a 
lion,  and  run  over  it  like  his  rival  in  the  sky.  And 
when  he  grew  up,  there  was  no  one  in  that  coun- 
try who  could  match  him  in  riding,  or  wrestling, 
or  swordsmanship,  or  any  other  martial  exercise; 
so  that  the  people  said  of  him :  He  looks  Hke  the 
very  soul  of  the  nature  of  a  Kshatriya  that  has 
assumed  a  body  suited  to  its  deeds.  Surely  he 
is  an  incarnation  of  Kumara,^  come  down  to 
earth  for  the  destruction  of  the  King's  enemies. 
And  the  women  flocked   around   him  like   flies 

>  The  name  is  Amarasinha.  But  this  is  so  certain  to  be  a 
stumbling-block  in  an  English  mouth,  that  I  have  spelt  it  as 
it  would  be  pronounced  by  a  Hindoo.  (Um  as  in  drum.) 
It  means  "lion-god''  or  "'god-lion,"  a  name  suited  to  a  king 
of  the  line  of  the  Sun. 

»  The  War-god. 


256  The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

about  honey,  for  their  hearts  were  trampled  to 
pieces,  like  lotuses,  by  the  wild  elephant  of  his 
glorious  youth,  and  their  souls  were  intoxicated 
with  the  nectar  of  the  beauty  of  his  figure,  and 
followed  him  about  like  captives  chained  in  rows. 
But  Umra-Singh  laughed  at  them  all,  and  even 
outdid  the  moon-crested  god,^  in  that  he  drank 
continually  the  deadly  poison  of  the  ocean  of 
their  seductions,  without  even  staining  his  throat. 
Then  one  day  his  father  said  to  him:  Come, 
now,  I  have  arranged  your  marriage  with  the 
daughter  of  my  most  powerful  enemy:  so  shall 
we  become  friends  by  the  method  of  conciliation. 
Umra-Singh  said:  Find  another  bridegroom,  for 
I  have  married  my  sharp  sword.  So  his  father 
was  annoyed,  and  said:  What  is  this  folly,  and 
whence  can  I  procure  another  bridegroom?  But 
Umra-Singh  was  silent.  And  three  times  his 
father  repeated  his  words.  Then  after  a  while 
Umra-Singh  said :  Bridegroom  or  no  bridegroom, 
I  will  not  marry  anybody  but  the  lady  of  my 
dream.  Then  said  his  father:  Who,  then,  is  this 
lady  of  your  dream?  Umra-Singh  said :  I  do  not 
know.  But  every  other  month,  on  the  last  day 
of  the  dark  fortnight,  there  comes  to  me  in  a 

»  Because,  though  Shiwa  drank  the  kdlakuta  or  deadly  sea- 
poison,  with  impunity,  still  it  left  its  mark  on  his  throat 
and  dyed  it  blue. 


An  Eclipse  of  the  Sun  257 

dream  a  vision  of  a  woman,  in  a  boat  gi  sandal 
with  silver  oars,  floating  on  a  pool  of  white  lotuses. 
But  who  she  is  I  cannot  tell,  and  her  face  I  can 
never  see,  for  it  is  always  turned  away. 

Then  his  father  began  to  laugh,  and  deride 
him.  But  Umra-Singh  cared  no  more  for  the 
stream  of  his  derision  than  Maheshwara  for  the 
Ganges  when  it  fell  on  his  head.  Then  his  father 
said:  Dismiss  this  delusion,  and  prepare  for  the 
wedding :  for  I  have  arranged  the  ceremonies,  and 
appointed  the  day.  But  Umra-Singh  laughed, 
and  said:  Marry  her  thyself:  for  I  tell  thee,  I  will 
not  marry  anybody,  but  the  lady  of  my  dream. 
Then  his  father  flew  into  a  rage,  and  summoned 
his  guards,  and  threw  the  prince  ^  into  prison, 
saying  to  himself:  He  shall  stay  there,  with  his 
dream  to  keep  him  company,  till  he  learns  to 
obey.  But  Umra-Singh  persuaded  his  gaolers 
to  let  him  escape,  for  the  subjects  loved  him  more 
than  his  father.  And  he  fled  away  by  night  into 
another  country,  abandoning  his  royal  position 
for  the  sake  of  his  dream. 

And  then  he  went  from  city  to  city,  and  from 
one  country  to  another,  eluding  the  pursuit  of  the 
agents  sent  after  him  by  his  father  to  bring  him 

«  A  rajpoot  means  only  the  son  of  a  king,  and  it  is  to  be 
observed  that  there  were  raj  poets  in  India  long  before  the 
present  "Rajpoots"  ever  came  there. 
»7 


258         The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

back,  till  at  last  he  came  to  Indirdlaya.  And  he 
dived  into  a  disreputable  qxiarter  of  that  city, 
Hke  a  frog  into  a  well,  and  remained  there  dis- 
gusted with  Ufe  and  his  relations,  plunging  into 
dissipation  to  drown  his  grief,  and  surrounded  by 
gamblers  and  outcasts,  counting  the  whole  world 
as  a  straw,  supporting  himself  on  his  own  courage, 
and  his  dream.  And  little  by  little  all  he  had 
melted  away  like  snow  in  the  sun  of  his  gener- 
osity, or  was  swallowed  up  by  the  ocean  of  greedy 
gamblers,  among  whom  he  scattered  it  with  an 
open  hand,  asking,  like  his  ancestor, ^  nothing  in 
return.  And  at  last,  being  reduced  to  extremity, 
clad  in  garments  worn  and  ragged,  which,  Uke 
clouds  vainly  obscuring  the  Lord  of  the  Day, 
could  not  hide,  but  rather  increased,  the  beauty 
of  his  form,  with  nothing  left  to  eat  or  drink,  he 
determined  to  abandon  the  body.  So  taking 
down  his  sword  from  the  wall,  and  holding  it  in 
his  hand,  he  went  out  of  his  wretched  lodging, 
saying  to  himself :  Death  is  better  than  dishonouf 
and  insignificance,  hunger  and  the  loathing  of 
life:  for  what  is  death  but  the  beginning  of 
another  Hfe,  which  cannot  be  worse  than  this 
one,  be  it  what  it  may?  And  who  knows  but 
that  I  may  meet  her  in  the  next  Hfe  whom  I 

^  I.  e.,  the  Sun.     There  are  double  meanings  in  this  period, 
comparixig  him  to  the  Sun. 


An  Eclipse  of  the  Sun  259 

dream  of  in  this?  For  she  who  is  but  a  dream 
now,  may  be  a  reality  in  another  birth,  and  I  may 
discover  that  lotus  pool,  waiting  for  me  in  another 
life.  Therefore  now  I  will  go  outside  the  city 
wall,  and  find  some  deserted  garden,  and  there 
I  will  cut  off  my  own  head,  and  offer  it  up  to 
Durga  as  a  sacrifice. 

And  as  he  stood  at  the  door  of  the  house, 
pondering  which  way  he  should  go,  there  fell  on 
his  ear,  for  the  hundredth  time,  the  sound  of  the 
beating  of  drums.  And  he  listened,  and  heard 
the  criers  crying:  Whatsoever  high-caste  man  has 
been  to  the  Land  of  the  Lotus  of  the  Sun,  let  him 
come  to  the  King:  he  shall  share  the  King's  king- 
dom, and  marry  the  King's  daughter.  And  Umra- 
Singh  laughed,  and  said  to  himself:  What!  are 
they  still  looking  for  a  man  who  has  seen  the  Land 
of  the  Lotus  of  the  Sun?  And  how,  then,  did 
they  know  that  there  was  such  a  land  to  be  seen? 

And  then  on  a  sudden  he  started,  as  if  he  had 
been  bitten  by  a  snake.  And  he  struck  his  hand 
on  his  sword,  and  exclaimed:  Ha!  But  if  nobody 
has  ever  seen  that  land,  and  no  one  knows  any- 
thing about  it,  then,  if  one  should  come  and  say: 
Lo!  I  have  seen  it:  who  could  discern  whether 
he  was  speaking  the  truth  or  telling  a  lie?  For 
who  can  compare  the  description  with  a  reality 
which  neither  he  nor  any  one  else  ever  saw?     So 


26o         The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

what  is  to  hinder  me  from  going  to  the  King  and 
saying:  I  have  seen  that  Lotus  Land,  and  now, 
give  me  the  reward?  For  here  I  am,  about  to 
put  myself  to  death;  and  what  greater  evil  can 
befall  me  at  the  hands  of  the  King,  even  though 
he  should  discover  the  deceit?  And  yet,  how  can 
he?  For  who  knows  what  that  land  is  like,  or 
even  where  it  is?  But  if,  on  the  contrary,  I  get 
credit,  then  I  shall  obtain,  not  only  this  far- 
famed  daughter,  for  whom  I  care  nothing,  but 
also  the  resources  of  his  kingdom ;  and  with  them 
I  can  equip  an  army,  and  go  and  compel  my 
father  to  restore  me  to  my  position.  So  where 
is  the  harm?  or  rather,  is  it  not  pure  gain,  and  no 
loss,  to  make  the  attempt  and  abide  the  result, 
whether  I  live  or  die? 

Then  instantly,  without  hesitation,  he  went 
up  to  the  criers,  and  said  to  them:  Cease  your 
crying,  and  take  me  to  the  King,  for  I  have  seen 
that  Lotus  Land.  But  the  criers,  when  they 
heard  what  he  said,  could  not  believe  their  ears, 
and  almost  abandoned  the  body  from  excess  of 
joy.  For  they  were  almost  dead  from  exhaustion, 
and  continual  shouting  all  day  long.  And  they 
danced  like  peacocks  at  the  sight  of  the  first  cloud 
in  the  rainy  season,  and  caught  him  in  their  arms, 
holding  him  as  if  they  were  afraid  he  would  escape, 
to  carry  him  away,  like  a  precious  jewel,  to  the 


An  Eclipse  of  the  Sun  261 

King.  And  the  news  ran  through  the  city  like 
fire  in  a  dry  wood :  There  has  been  found  a  man 
who  has  seen  the  Land  of  the  Lotus  of  the  Sun. 
And  a  vast  crowd  of  people  ran  from  every  street, 
and  pressed  around  him,  and  accompanied  him 
to  the  palace,  and  stood  before  it,  tossing  like  the 
sea,  while  the  guards  took  him  in  to  the  King. 

But  when  the  King  heard  the  news,  he  wept  for 
joy.  And  Umra-Singh  seemed  in  his  eyes  like  a 
draught  of  nectar,  and  like  the  fulfilment  of  al] 
his  desires  in  bodily  form.     And  he  said  to  him: 

0  thou  unspeakably  delightful  son-in-law  that 
shall  be,  hast  thou  really  set  eyes  on  that  ac- 
cursed Land  of  the  Lotus  of  the  Sun?  And 
Umra-Singh  said  boldly :  Yes,  I  have  seen  it,  and 

1  know  it  well.  Then  immediately  the  King  in 
his  impatience  ran  himself  to  his  daughter's  apart- 
ments, and  exclaimed :  The  bridegroom  is  found, 
by  the  favour  of  the  Lord  of  Obstacles.  Here  is 
a  Rajpoot  who  has  seen  the  Land  of  the  Lotus  of 
the  Sun.  So  prepare  for  the  marriage  without 
delay. 

Then  said  Shri:  Dear  father,  there  is  no  hurry 
in  this  matter.  And  how  do  you  know  that  this 
man  is  speaking  the  truth,  or  is  not,  rather,  some 
impostor,  who  only  wishes  to  secure  me  and  half 
your  kingdom,  by  falsely  asserting  that  he  has 
seen,  what  in  fact  he  never  has  seen?     For  the 


262  The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

world  is  full  of  such  crafty  rogues,  who  go  about, 
like  cranes,  fishing  in  the  wealth  of  Kings,  like 
pools.  Bring  him  therefore  first  to  me,  to  examine 
him;  and  thereafter  we  shall  see,  whether  it  is 
time  to  prepare  the  marriage  ceremonies,  or  not. 

So  the  King  said:  Be  it  so.  And  he  sent  for 
Umra-Singh,  and  brought  him  into  the  presence 
of  Shri. 

And  Shri  looked  and  saw  him  standing,  sword 
in  hand,  tall,  and  lean  in  the  waist  like  a  hungry- 
lion,  with  shoulders  like  those  of  a  bull,  and  long 
arms,  and  all  the  royal  marks  of  a  King.  And 
she  would  have  despised  him  for  his  rags  and  his 
nakedness,  and  yet  for  all  that  she  would,  she 
could  not,  but  felt  herself  drawn  towards  him 
against  her  will.  For  her  heart  was  stirred  within 
her  at  the  sight  of  him,  and  dim  suggestions  of 
that  former  birth,  which  she  had  forgotten, 
struggled  in  her  soul,  and  strove  to  rise  up  out  of 
its  depths.  And  she  stood,  gazing  at  him  in 
silence,  with  eyes  that  looked  at  him  but  did  not 
see  him,  like  those  of  one  that  listens  to  the 
tones  of  a  long-forgotten  voice,  sounding  in  the 
hall  of  memory,  and  awakening  longing  and  fond 
regret.  And  as  she  gazed,  she  poured  over  him 
a  flood  of  blue  colour  out  of  her  wondrous  doubt- 
ful eyes. 

And  Umra-Singh  looked  at  her,  and  the  whole 


An  Eclipse  of  the  Sun  263 

world  vanished  from  his  sight  in  a  mass  of  blue. 
And  he  reeled  under  the  blow  of  her  glances,  which 
struck  him  mercilessly  like  a  club,  and  time  and 
space  fled  from  his  soul,  which  was  filled  with 
colour,  and  tears,  and  laughter,  and  pain,  and  he 
gasped  for  breath.  For  the  sight  of  her  half- 
remembered  eyes  clutched  his  heart,  and  stopped 
its  beating  like  an  iron  band.  And  in  that 
moment  there  rose  before  him  the  dream-woman 
of  the  lotus-pool,  and  he  knew  that  it  was  Shri. 

So  they  two  stood  there,  like  pictures  painted  on 
a  wall,  gazing  at  each  other,  and  groping  in  vain 
for  recollection  in  the  darkness  of  oblivion,^  like 
shadows  in  a  dream.  And  then,  after  a  while, 
Shri  came  to  herself.  And  she  said  slowly:  So 
thou  hast  seen  the  Land  of  the  Lotus  of  the  Sun? 
Then  mention  its  peculiarities,  and  tell  me  how 
thou  didst  arrive  at  it. 

But  Umra-Singh  stammered  and  hesitated. 
For  her  eyes  had  deprived  him  of  his  reason,  and 
he  could  think  of  nothing  else.  And  all  his 
audacity  had  vanished,  and  become  timidity,  and 
he  faltered,  and  spoke,  not  knowing  what  he  said, 
with  a  voice  that  refused  its  office,  and  sounded  in 
his  ears  like  that  of  another  man.     And  he  said: 


«  Adrishta:  a  peculiar  technical  term,  meaning  something 
that  has  its  roots  in  the  unseen  circumstances  of  a  former 
birth. 


264         The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

Lady,  I  went  I  know  not  how,  and  wandered  1 
know  not  how  long,  among  wastes  and  deserts 
and  mountains  I  know  not  how  high,  till  I  came 
to  a  land  I  know  not  where,  called  the  Land  of 
the  Lotus  of  the  Sun,  I  know  not  why.^ 

But  as  he  spoke,  the  spell  was  broken,  and  Shri 
woke  as  it  were  from  a  dream.  And  she  saw 
before  her  only  a  ragged  Rajpoot,  stumbling  in 
his  tale,  and  abashed  before  her,  and  unable  to 
support  his  knavery  even  by  a  clever  lie.  And 
she  was  ashamed,  and  angry  with  herself,  and  as 
she  listened,  she  was  suddenly  seized  with  a  fit  of 
laughter.  And  she  exclaimed:  Hark!  hark!  to 
this  high-caste  hero;  listen  to  his  lay  of  a  Lotus 
Land!  He  went  he  knew  not  where,  and  did  he 
knew  not  what,  and  began  at  the  beginning,  and 
ended  at  the  end.  So  she  laughed  and  mocked 
him,  while  he  stood  before  her  as  it  were  in  a 
swoon,  hearing  only  the  music  of  her  voice,  and 
quailing  like  a  coward  before  the  fire  of  her 
scornful  eyes. 

Then  suddenly  Shri  clapped  her  hands  in  his 
face,  and  exclaimed:  Dost  thou  hear,  or  art  thou 
deaf  as  well  as  dumb?  Art  thou  a  Rajpoot,  and 
yet  couldst  thou  not  find  courage  enough  to 
carry  out  thy  imposition  to  the  end?     Strange! 

>  No  translator  can  give  the  alliterative  jingle  of  the  yathds 
and  tathds,  yads  and  tads  of  this  and  the  answer  of  Shri  below. 


Inspiration  265 

that  such  a  body  could  be  chosen  by  the  Creator 
as  the  receptacle  of  such  a  soul.  And  she  tiu-ned 
to  the  King,  and  said:  Dear  Father,  it  is  as  I 
said,  and  as  you  see,  this  fellow  is  but  a  rogue. 
Put  him  out,  therefore ;  and  yet,  do  him  no  harm. 
For  though  he  is  a  knave,  yet  he  is  a  handsome 
knave,  and  deserves  rather  contempt  and  laughter, 
than  punishment  and  blows. 

Then  the  King  said  to  his  guards:  Take  this 
impostor,  and  thrust  him  out  into  the  street. 
So  the  guards  seized  Umra-Singh,  who  offered  no 
resistance,  and  threw  him  out  into  the  street, 
raining  upon  him  as  he  went  a  shower  of  kicks  and 
blows.  And  immediately  the  criers  went  round 
the  city  as  before,  beating  drums  and  crying 
aloud:  Whatsoever  high-caste  man  has  been  to  the 
Land  of  the  Lotus  of  the  Sun,  let  him  come  to  the 
King:  he  shall  share  the  King's  kingdom,  and 
marry  the  King's  daughter. 

IV 

INSPIRATION 

But  Umra-Singh  lay  in  the  street,  more  like  a 
dead  than  a  living  man,  covered  with  bruises  and 
bereft  of  sense.  And  the  people  crowded  round 
him,  jeering  and  scouting  and  pointing  at  him, 
and  giving  him  blows  and  kicks.     And  he  looked 


266  The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

in  the  midst  of  those  base  mockers  like  a  black 
antelope  smitten  by  the  hunters  with  a  mortal 
wound,  and  surrounded  by  a  troop  of  chattering 
monkeys  Then  by  and  by  those  scoffers  left 
him  lying,  and  went  every  man  his  way,  for  the 
sun  was  going  down.  And  after  a  while,  he  came 
to  himself,  and  rose  up,  though  with  difficulty, 
from  the  ground,  and  wandered  away  with 
stumbling  feet,  till  he  came  to  a  tank  in  a  deserted 
quarter,  and  lay  down  on  its  brink  to  rest.  And 
sore  though  he  was  in  all  his  limbs,  he  never  felt 
the  pain  of  his  body:  but  his  eyes  were  dazed 
with  the  blue  glory  of  the  bitter  scorn  of  the  eyes 
of  Shri,  and  the  sound  of  her  voice  and  her 
laughter  rang  in  his  ears,  and  in  his  heart  was 
shame.  So  he  lay  long,  gazing  at  the  image  of 
Shri  as  it  floated  before  him,  and  stung  his  soul 
like  the  teeth  of  a  serpent,  and  yet  soothed  it  Hke 
sandal,  while  the  moon  rose  in  the  sky. 

And  then  suddenly  he  sat  up,  and  looked  round. 
And  he  saw  the  tank,  and  the  trees,  and  the 
moon's  image  in  the  water,  and  remembered 
where  he  was,  and  all  that  had  occurred.  And 
he  sighed  deeply,  and  said  to  himself:  Woe  is  me! 
I  have,  like  a  dishonest  gambler,  cast  my  die,  and 
lost  the  game.  And  now,  I  have  gained  no  king- 
dom and  no  King's  daughter,  but  only  blows  and 
shame.     Alas!  no  sooner  had  I  found  my  dream 


Inspiration  267 

than  again  I  lost  her,  through  the  terrible  opera- 
tion of  sins  committed  in  a  former  birth.  So 
now,  nothing  remains  but  to  do  as  quickly  as 
possible  what  I  was  about  to  do  before  I  went  to 
the  palace,  and  put  myself,  in  very  truth,  to 
death.  For  life  seemed  unendurable,  before  I 
had  found  the  woman  of  my  dream:  but  now  it 
is  worse  by  far,  since  I  have  found  her  only  to 
become  in  her  eyes  a  thing  of  scorn,  more  horrible 
than  a  hundred  deaths. 

And  he  took  his  sword,  and  felt  the  sharpness 
of  its  edge,  and  put  it  to  his  throat.  And  as  it 
touched  his  skin,  at  that  momqnt  he  heard  in  the 
silence  of  the  night  the  voice  of  a  warder,  singing 
as  he  went  his  round  upon  the  city  wall :  Whatso- 
ever high-caste  man  has  been  to  the  Land  of  the  Lotus 
of  the  Sun,  let  him  come  to  the  King:  he  shall  share 
the  King's  kingdom  and  marry  the  King's  daughter. 
And  the  sword  fell  from  his  hand,  and  he  sprang 
to  his  feet,  and  exclaimed :  What !  she  is  for  the 
man  who  has  seen  the  Land  of  the  Lotus,  and  here 
am  I,  a  Rajpoot  of  the  Race  of  the  Sun,  dreaming 
of  death  by  this  moonlit  tank,  while  the  Land  of 
the  Lotus  is  yet  unfound!  Now  will  I  find  that 
Lotus  Country,  be  it  where  it  may,  and  then  come 
back  and  claim  her,  not  as  I  did  before,  in  jest, 
but  by  the  right  of  the  seer  and  the  seen. 

And  instantly   he   picked   up   his   sword,   and 


268         The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

threw  it  into  the  air.  And  the  sword  turned  like 
a  wheel,  flashing  in  the  moonlight,  and  fell  back 
to  the  ground.  Then  Umra-Singh  took  it  up, 
and  immediately  went  out  of  the  city,  making 
for  the  quarter  pointed  out  like  a  finger  by  the 
blade  of  his  sword. 

V 

NIGHTWALKER 

And  then  as  a  black  bee  roves  from  flower  to 
flower  he  wandered  from  city  to  city,  and  from 
one  country  to  another:  and  he  went  north  and 
east  and  west  and  south,  till  the  elephants  of  the 
eight  quarters  knew  him  as  it  were  by  sight.  Yet 
he  never  found  any  one  who  could  tell  him  his 
way,  or  had  ever  heard  the  name  of  the  Land  of 
the  Lotus  of  the  Sun.  And  meanwhile  the  suns 
of  the  hot  seasons  burned  him  like  a  furnace,  and 
the  cold  seasons  froze  the  blood  in  his  veins,  and 
the  rains  roared  over  his  head  like  a  wild  elephant, 
and  at  the  last,  he  said  to  himself :  Now  for  thrice 
six  seasons  have  I  been  seeking,  and  yet  I  know 
no  more  of  my  way  to  the  Land  of  the  Lotus  than 
I  did  before.  And  undoubtedly,  if  such  a  Land 
exists  in  the  world,  it  can  be  known  only  to  the 
birds  of  the  air.  Therefore  now  I  will  abandon 
the  dwellings  of  men,  and  enter  the  Great  Forest, 
for  only  in  this  way  will  it  ever  be  possible  for 


Nightvvalker  269 

me  to  discover  a  land  of  which  no  human  being 
has  ever  heard. 

So  he  went  into  the  forest  and  proceeded  on- 
ward, turning  his  face  to  the  south.  Then  as  he 
went  the  trees  grew  thicker  and  thicker,  and 
taller  and  taller,  till  they  shut  out  the  light  of  the 
sun.  And  at  last  there  came  a  day  when  he 
looked  before  him,  and  saw  only  a  darkness  like 
that  of  the  mouth  of  death:  and  he  looked  be- 
hind him,  and  saw  the  light  of  evening  glim- 
mering a  great  way  off,  as  if  afraid  to  keep  him 
company.  And  as  he  went  on  slowly,  feeling 
his  way  with  the  point  of  his  sword,  suddenly 
in  the  darkness  another  face  peered  into  his 
own,  and  stuck  out  at  him  a  long  red  tongue. 
And  Umra-Singh  started  back,  and  looked,  and 
saw  before  him  a  root-eating  Wairagi,^  clad 
in  a  coat  of  bark,  with  long  hair,  and  nails  Hke 
the  claws  of  a  bird,  and  his  legs  and  arms  were 
bare,  and  his  skin  like  that  on  the  foot  of  an 
elephant. 

Then  said  Umra-Singh:  Father,  what  art  thou 
doing  here,  and  why  dost  thou  stick  out  at  me 
thy  tongue?  The  Wairagi  said:  Son,  what  art 
thou  doing  here,  in  a  wood  full  of  nothing  but 

»  This  term  denotes  one  who  has  turned  his  back  on  the 
world,  and  become  free  from  passion.  Its  meaning  can  best 
be  learned  from  the  third  section  of  the  Centuries  of  Bhartri* 
hari,  devoted  to  it.     {Wair  rhymes  with  fire.) 


2  70  The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

trees  and  Rakshasas.^  and  dark  as  the  hair  of  the 
Great  God,  of  which  it  is  an  earthly  copy  ?  Umra- 
Singh  said:  I  am  a  Rajpoot  who  has  quarrelled 
with  his  relations,  and  I  am  looking  for  the  Land 
of  the  Lotus  of  the  Sun.  Then  said  the  Wairagi : 
They  are  very  few  that  wish  to  find  that  Lotus 
Land;  and  fewer  still  who  find  it;  fewest  of  all 
those,  that  having  found  it  ever  return.  Then 
Umra-Singh  said,  in  astonishment:  And  dost 
thou  know  that  Lotus  Land?  Tell  me  how  I 
must  go  to  reach  it.  Then  the  Wairagi  laughed, 
and  said :  Ha !  ha !  Thou  art  one  more  ready  to 
ask  than  to  answer  questions :  but  I  give  nothing 
for  nothing  Know,  that  I  also  have  all  my  life 
been  looking,  not  for  one  way  only,  but  for  three. 
And  now,  if  thou  wilt  tell  me  my  three  ways,  I 
will  tell  thee  thine. 

Then  said  Umra-Singh :  One  for  three  is  no  bar- 
gain; but  what,  then,  are  thy  lost  ways?  The 
Wairdgi  said :  All  my  life  I  have  tried  to  discover 
the  Way  of  the  World,  and  the  Way  of  Woman, 
and  the  Way  of  Emancipation,  2  and  yet  could 

»  Jinn,  ogres,  vampires,  goblins,  etc.,  are  all  but  differen- 
tiations of  the  Hindoo  Rdkshasa,  which  is  what  the  geologist 
calls  a  "synthetic  type"  of  evil  being,  whose  special  feature 
is  its  power  of  changing  its  shape  at  will  {Kdmarupa). 

2  There  is  here  an  untranslatable  play  on  the  word  tri- 
pathagd,  the  three-way-goer,  i.  e.,  the  Ganges,  which  flows  in 
three  Ways — in  heaven,  earth,  and  hell.  The  hermit  asks, 
as  we  might  say,  for  the  source  of  the  Nile. 


Nightwalker  271 

never  hit  on  the  truth  as  to  any  one  of  them. 
And  this  is  a  wonderful  thing.  For  anything 
characteristic  of  multitudes  must  be  very  com- 
mon: and  yet  how  can  that  which  is  common 
escape  the  notice  of  all?  Tell  me,  then,  the  Way 
of  the  World,  and  I  will  tell  thee  in  return  a  third 
of  thy  way  to  the  Land  of  the  Lotus  of  the  Sun. 
Then  said  Umra-Singh:  Thou  puttest  a  knotty 
question,  and  drivest  a  hard  bargain;  neverthe- 
less, I  will  give  thee  an  answer,  for  the  sake  of  my 
own  way  and  the  blue  eyes  of  Shri.  Know,  that 
this  is  the  Way  of  the  World.  There  was  for- 
merly, on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges,  an  old  empty 
temple  of  Shiwa.  And  one  night,  in  the  rainy 
season,  an  old  female  ascetic  entered  the  temple, 
to  shelter  herself  from  the  storm.  And  just  after 
her  there  came  in  an  owl  for  the  same  purpose. 
Now  in  the  roof  of  that  temple  there  lived  a 
number  of  the  caste  ^  of  bats,  that  never  left  the 
temple  precincts.  And  seeing  the  owl,  they  said 
to  the  old  woman :  Who  art  thou,  and  what  kind 
of  animal  is  this?  Then  the  old  woman  said:  I 
am  the  Goddess  Saraswati,  and  this  is  the  peacock 
on  which  I  ride  2  Then,  the  storm  being  over, 
that    old    impostor   went    away.     But    the    owl, 

«  The  proper  word  for  caste  is  jdti,  gens. 
2  Every   Hindoo  god  or  goddess  has  his  or  her  peculiat 
animal  vehicle  (wdhana). 


2  72         The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

being  pleased  with  the  temple  as  a  place  of  resi- 
dence remained;  and  the  bats  paid  it  divine 
honours.  Then  some  years  afterwards,  it  hap- 
pened, that  a  real  peacock  entered  the  temple. 
And  the  bats  said  to  it :  What  kind  of  animal  art 
thou?  The  peacock  said:  I  am  a  peacock.  The 
bats  replied:  Out  on  thee,  thou  impostor!  what  is 
this  folly?  The  peacock  said:  I  am  a  peacock, 
the  son  of  a  peacock,  and  the  carriage  of  the 
Goddess  Saraswati  is  a  hereditary  office  in  our 
caste.  The  bats  said:  Thou  art  a  liar,  and  the 
son  of  a  liar,  dost  thou  know  better  than  the 
Goddess  herself?  And  they  drove  the  peacock 
out  of  the  temple,  and  paid,  as  formerly,  worship 
to  the  owl. 

Then  said  the  Wairdgi:  Rajpoot,  thou  hast 
opened  my  eyes.  Learn  now  from  me  a  portion 
of  thy  own  way.  And  he  lay  down  on  the  ground, 
and  suddenly  abandoning  the  form  of  a  hermit, 
became  a  weasel,  which  stuck  out  at  Umra-Singh 
a  long  red  tongue,  and  entered  the  ground  by 
a  hole,  and  disappeared.  And  as  Umra-Singh 
stooped  down  to  examine  the  hole,  he  saw  the 
Wairagi  again  beside  him  in  his  old  shape,  save 
that  he  continued  to  stick  out  of  his  mouth  the 
weasel's  tongue.  And  he  said,  angrily:  What  is 
this  delusion  of  a  weasel,  and  why  dost  thou 
stick  out  thy  tongue?     Then  said  the  Wairagi: 


Nightwalker  273 

Ho !  ho !  I  have  shown  thee  a  way  for  a  way,  and 
one  riddle  for  another.  And  now,  tell  me  the 
Way  of  a  Woman,  and  learn  yet  another  third  of 
thy  own  road. 

Then  Umra-Singh  said  to  himself:  Surely  this 
is  no  hermit,  but  a  vile  Rakshasa,  who  only  seeks 
to  delude  me.  Nevertheless,  I  will  give  him  an 
answer,  for  the  sake  of  my  way,  and  the  blue 
light  in  the  eyes  of  Shri.  And  he  said  to  the 
Wairagi :  Know,  then,  that  the  Way  of  a  Woman 
is  this:  There  dwelt  long  ago,  in  the  Windhya 
forest,  an  old  Rishi.  And  the  gods,  being 
jealous  of  his  austerities,  sent  to  interrupt  his 
devotions  a  heavenly  nymph.  Then  that  old 
Rishi,  overcome  by  her  beauty,  yielded  to  the 
temptation,  and  had  by  her  a  daughter.  But 
afterwards,  repenting  of  his  fall,  he  burned  out 
his  eyes  with  a  fiery  cane,  saying:  Perish,  ye 
causes  of  perishable  illusions:  and  so  became 
blind.  Then  his  daughter  grew  up  alone  with 
that  old  blind  sage  in  the  forest.  And  she  was 
more  beautiful  than  any  woman  in  the  three 
worlds.  Verily,  had  the  God  of  Love  seen  her, 
he  woiild  instantly  have  abandoned  Rati  and 
Priti,^  counting  them  but  as  her  domestic  ser- 
vants. And  she  dressed  in  bark  garments,  with 
no  mirror  but  the  pools  of  the  forest.     Then  one 

»  Pleasure  and  Joy,  the  two  wives  of  the  God  of  Love. 
18 


274  The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

day  a  crow  that  was  acquainted  with  cities  came 
to  her  and  said :  Why  dost  thou  live  here,  with  no 
companion  but  an  old  blind  father,  who  cannot 
even  see  thee,  and  does  not  know  the  value  of 
his  pearl?  The  whole  world  does  not  contain  a 
beauty  equal  to  thine.  Go  and  show  thyself  in 
cities,  and  I  tell  thee,  the  Kings  of  the  earth 
would  quit  their  kingdoms,  and  follow  thee  about 
like  a  swarm  of  bees.  Then  said  the  Rishi's 
daughter:  And  who,  then,  would  fetch  for  my 
father  his  sacrificial  fuel,  or  water  to  cook  his 
cakes  of  rice  and  milk?  And  she  drove  away  the 
crow,  and  lived  on  in  the  forest,  serving  her 
father,  and  at  the  last  became  old,  and  died  in  the 
forest,  and  no  man  ever  saw  her  face. 

Then  said  the  Wair^gi :  Thou  foolish  Rajpoot,  I 
asked  thee  for  the  Way  of  a  Woman,  and  thou 
hast  told  me  the  Way  of  Emancipation.  Then 
said  Umra-Singh:  Thou  miserable  root-eater, 
since  the  creation  every  woman  has  sacrificed 
herself  for  another,  or  else  she  was  not  a  woman, 
for  this  is  the  nature  of  them  all.  Then  said  the 
Waird,^:  Learn  now  from  me,  another  portion 
of  thy  own  way.  And  as  Umra-Singh  watched 
him,  suddenly  that  deceitful  Wairagi  became  a 
bat,  and  stuck  out  at  him  again  his  tongue,  and 
flew  away  through  the  trees.  And  Umra-Singh 
said  to  himself :  Beyond  a  doubt  this  is  no  ascetic, 


Nightwalker  275 

but  the  very  King  of  Rakshasas ;  nevertheless,  he 
shall  tell  me  my  road,  if  he  comes  again,  or  it 
shall  be  the  worse  for  him.  And  suddenly  again 
he  saw  the  Wairagi  standing  by  his  side,  and 
sticking  out  at  him,  as  before,  his  tongue.  And 
he  said  to  Umra-Singh:  Now  thou  hast  only  to 
tell  me  the  Way  of  Salvation,  and  thy  own  way 
will  be  clear  before  thee. 

Then  said  Umra-Singh:  Thou  art  but  an  old 
Rakshasa;  nevertheless,  once  more  will  I  give 
thee  an  answer,  for  the  sake  of  my  way,  and  the 
colour  of  the  eyes  of  Shri.  Know,  that  the  Way 
of  Emancipation  is  this:  There  was  formerly  a 
King  of  the  race  of  the  Sun,  and  he  was  very  old, 
and  all  his  hair  was  as  white  as  the  uppermost 
peak  of  the  Snowy  mountain.  And  one  day  he 
looked  from  his  palace  window,  and  saw  in  the 
street  a  child,  drawing  behind  it  a  toy  cart.  And 
the  cart  fell,  and  was  broken,  and  the  child  cried 
over  its  broken  toy.  Now  it  happened,  by  the 
ordinance  of  fate,  that  long  ago,  when  he  was 
himself  a  child,  exactly  the  same  thing  had  hap- 
pened to  that  old  King.  And  as  he  looked  at  the 
child,  suddenly  the  years  were  annihilated,  and 
became  as  nothing.  And  like  a  picture  he  saw 
before  him,  the  image  of  himself,  a  child.  And 
seized  with  grief,  and  an  unutterable  longing 
for  the  repetition  of  his  life,   he  exclaimed:   O 


276         The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

Maheshwara,  Maheshwara,  let  me  live  my  life 
again.  Then  suddenly  Maheshwara  stood  before 
him,  and  laughed,  and  said :  Remember  thy  former 
births.  And  suddenly  memory  came  upon  that 
old  King,  and  out  of  the  darkness  of  the  past 
there  rose  before  him  the  seiies  of  his  former 
lives.  And  Maheshwara  said:  See,  nine  and 
ninety  times,  in  nine  and  ninety  births,  thou  hast 
made  of  me  the  same  request,  and  now  this  is  a 
hundred.  And  every  time  I  have  given  thee  thy 
wish,  in  vain.  For  every  time  thou  hast  for- 
gotten, and  hast  known  the  value  of  thy  youth 
only  after  becoming  old.  Then  said  the  old 
King :  How,  then,  can  emancipation  be  obtained  ? 
Maheshwara  said:  It  depends  not  on  time,  but 
knowledge;  and  even  an  instant  can  bring  it 
when  ten  thousand  years  have  failed.  And  thou 
hast  but  a  little  left  of  life,  yet  even  to  thee 
knowledge  may  come  before  the  end.  Then  he 
disappeared.  Now  that  old  King  had  a  daughter 
whom  he  loved  better  than  his  own  soul.  And, 
even  while  he  spoke  with  Maheshwara,  she  was 
bitten  by  a  snake  and  died,  and  he  did  not  know 
it,  for  they  feared  to  tell  him.  So  he  went  as 
usual  to  see  his  daughter.  And  when  he  entered 
her  room,  he  looked,  and  saw  her  lying  still.  And 
as  he  watched  her,  there  came  a  fly,  which  buzzed 
about  her,  and  settled  on  her  lips.     Then  horror 


Nightwalker  277 

came  on  that  old  King,  and  illusion  fell  suddenly 
from  his  eyes,  and  the  desire  of  life  was  destroyed 
in  him  at  its  root.  And  he  turned,  and  went 
without  waiting  to  the  Ganges,  and  remained 
there  a  few  years  washing  away  his  crimes,  like 
one  to  whom  life  and  death  are  the  same,  and  at 
last  entered  the  river,  and  it  drowned  him,  and 
carried  his  body  out  to  sea. 

Then  said  the  Wair^gi:  Now  shalt  thou  have 
emancipation  from  thy  own  ignorance,  as  to  thy 
way  to  the  Land  of  the  Lotus  of  the  Sun.  And 
he  stuck  out  at  Umra-Singh  his  tongue.  But 
Umra-Singh  suddenly  struck  at  him  a  blow  of  his 
sword,  and  as  luck  would  have  it,  he  cut  off  the 
end  of  his  tongue.  And  he  said  to  him:  Beware 
lest  I  kill  thee,  thou  old  impostor.  I  will  waste 
no  more  time  expecting  to  hear  from  thee  my 
way  to  the  Land  of  the  Lotus,  but  find  it  in  spite 
of  thee.  Then  the  Wairdgi  suddenly  assumed 
a  terrific  form,  and  exclaimed:  Woe  to  thee, 
thou  unlucky  Rajpoot !  For  thou  art  now  in  the 
land,  not  of  lotuses,  but  of  Rakshasas,  of  whom  I 
am  the  chief.  And  my  subjects  shall  beset  thee 
with  illusions,  like  the  sins  of  thy  former  birth  in 
visible  form;  and  there  wait  for  thee  the  Night- 
walkers,  Ulupi,  and  the  Cow-killer,  and  the  Hairy 
Grabber,  and  the  Icy  Chiller,  and  the  Flap-eared 
Buzzer,   and  the  awful  Watcher  in  his  pits  of 


2  7^  The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

sand,  and  others  without  number  ^i  and  even 
shouldst  thou  escape  them  all,  and  reach  the 
Lotus  Land,  thou  hast  still  to  return.  And  he 
vanished  with  a  shout  of  laughter,  and  Umra- 
Singh  was  left  alone. 

VI 

A    LOTUS    OF    THE    NIGHT 

Then  he  said  to  hrmself:  Though  I  cutoff  the 
tongue  of  this  ill-omened  Wairagi,  yet  he  never 
told  me  my  way.  And  he  went  on,  sword  in 
hand,  along  a  silver  path,  among  trees  that  re- 
sembled Rakshasas,  for  they  let  in  through  the  hair 
of  their  branches  the  light  of  the  moon,  which 
peered  down  at  h-m  as  if  out  of  curiosity,  and  lit 
him  on  his  way  as  if  in  admiration  of  his  courage. 
And  as  he  went,  gradually  the  trees  grew  rarer, 
and  at  length  he  looked  before  him,  and  saw  in  a 
clear  space  a  dark  b'ue  forest  pool,  studded  with 
moon-lotuses,  as  if  created  to  mock  the  expanse 
of  heaven  bespangled  with  its  stars,  a  mirror 
formed  by  Wedasa  2  to  reproduce  another  world 

'  These  names,  which  recall  certain  passages  in  the  Rama- 
yan,  lose  much  of  their  effect  in  translation.  Goghna,  "cow- 
killer,"  has  a  curious  history.  Because  of  old  a  cow  could 
be  killed  only  for  a  guest  of  great  honour,  a  word  of  the 
most  horrible  signification  actually  acquired  one  honourable 
meaning,  i.  e.,  a  guest  of  a  high  order. 

■  The  Creator. 


A  Lotus  of  the  Night  279 

below.  And  all  about  it  flitted  fireflies,  looking 
like  swarms  of  bees  that  had  returned  with 
torches,  unable  to  endure  separation  at  night 
from  the  lotus  flowers  which  they  loved  all  day. 

And  as  he  gazed  into  the  water,  he  saw  in  its 
smooth  mirror  the  image  of  a  woman,  dancing. 
And  as  she  danced,  her  robes  of  the  colour  of 
grass  fluttered  in  the  wind  produced  by  her  own 
movement  over  the  curves  of  her  limbs;  and 
drops  of  water  sparkled  in  the  moonlight  like 
gems  on  her  bosom,  which  rose  and  fell  like  a 
wave  of  the  sea  in  and  out  of  the  shadow  of  her 
hair:  for  that  hair  resembled  a  mass  of  the  es- 
sence of  the  blackness  of  night  And  she  chanted 
as  she  danced  with  a  voice  that  sounded  like  a  spell, 
and  fanned  the  ear  like  a  breeze  from  the  Malaya 
mountain.  1  Then  Umra-Singh  raised  his  eyes, 
and  saw  the  original  of  that  water-painted 
woman-image,  dancing  on  the  other  side  of  the 
pool. 

Then  she  looked  across  and  saw  him.  and  their 
eyes  met,  travelling  over  the  pool.  And  instantly 
she  stopped  her  singing  and  dancing,  and  clapped 
her  hands,  and  called  to  him  like  a  Kokila:  Come 
over  to  me,  thou  handsome  stranger,  for  I  am 
weary  of  dancing  alone,  and  I  have  a  question  to 
ask  thee.  And  she  leaned  against  a  tree  and 
«  From  which  the  sandal-wood  comes. 


28o         The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

stood  waiting,  with  one  hand  on  the  trunk  of  the 
tree  and  the  other  on  her  hip,  and  a  heaving 
breast :  and  she  looked  like  a  feminine  incarnation 
of  the  essence  of  the  agitation  of  the  ocean, 
stirred  by  the  sight  of  the  moon.  And  Umra- 
Singh  looked  at  her,  and  said  to  himself:  Cer- 
tainly the  daughters  of  Rdkshasas  are  more 
dangerous  than  their  fathers.  And  now  it  is  well, 
that  I  am  fenced  by  the  blue  eyes  of  Shri  like  a 
suit  of  armour,  otherwise  the  glances  of  this  forest 
maiden  would  like  an  axe  long  ago  have  cleft  my 
heart  in  two. 

Then  he  went  round  the  edge  of  the  pool,  and 
found  her  on  the  other  side.  And  she  beckoned 
to  him  as  he  drew  near  with  a  bangled  hand,  and 
moving  lips,  and  eyes  that  shone  in  the  moonlight 
like  the  eyes  of  a  snake.  And  she  came  and  stood 
before  him,  and  put  her  hand  on  his  shoiilder  with 
a  touch  like  a  leaf,  and  looked  up  into  his  face 
with  a  smile,  and  said :  I  am  Ulupi,  a  Daitya's  ^ 
daughter,  and  here  I  live  in  the  forest  alone,  with 
none  to  whom  to  compare  myself,  save  my  own 
image  in  the  water.  Tell  me,  for  thou  hast  seen 
other  women,  hast  thou  ever  met  with  eyes  more 
beautiful  than  mine?  And  Umra-Singh  looked 
down  into  them  as  into  two  dark  pools,  and  he 

»  A  kind  of  demon,  "a  son  of  Diti."  (Pronounce  dait-  as 
white.) 


A  Lotus  of  the  Night  281 

felt  them  pounding  his  heart  like  a  pair  of  fists.* 
And  he  said  to  himself:  She  may  well  ask,  and 
now,  but  for  one  other  pair,  her  eyes  need  fear  no 
rivals.  But  he  said  to  her:  Beauty,^  thine  eyes 
are  well  enough :  nevertheless  the  ocean  has  many 
gems,  and  doubtless  each  thinks  itself  the  best: 
but  the  Koustubha  ^  is  above  them  all. 

Then  a  cloud  came  over  her  face,  and  she  flung 
away  from  him  in  disdain,  and  stood  pouting  like 
a  child.  And  suddenly  she  turned  again,  and  put 
up  to  her  head  the  graceful  creepers  of  her  round 
arms,  and  undid  the  knot  of  her  hair,  and  shook 
it.  And  it  fell,  like  midnight,  about  those  stars 
her  eyes,  and  wrapped  her  all  over  like  a  veil,  and 
rolled  down  round  her  feet  and  along  the  ground, 
like  a  black  serpent.  Then  with  her  hand  she 
put  it  away  from  her  face,  and  shot  through  its 
meshes  a  subtle  smile,  and  said:  At  least  thou 
hast  never  seen  the  equal  of  my  hair?  And 
Umra-Singh  felt  her  glance  strike  him  like  a 
thunderbolt  out  of  a  cloud.  And  he  said  to  him- 
self :  Well  may  she  ask ;  and  now,  if  my  soul  were 
not  already  snared  in  the  long  lashes  of  the  eyes 
of  Shri,  it  would  be  netted  like  a  quail  in  this 
extraordinary   mass  of  never-ending  hair.     But 

>  A  reminiscence  of  Bhartrihari. 

2  Nothing  can  translate  bcUd.  It  means  child,  woman, 
beauty,  beaute-de-diablc . 

3  Wishnu's  great  breast-jewel  {Kou  as  cow). 


282  The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

he  said:  Beauty,  lovely  at  night  is  the  heaven 
with  its  stars,  but  lovelier  still  the  dark  blue  sea, 
in  which  they  are  reflected,  for  it  contains  all 
their  beauty  and  adds  another  of  its  own. 

Then  Ulupi  was  very  angry,  and  she  stood  with 
flashing  eyes,  swelling  with  rage.  And  suddenly 
she  stooped,  and  gathered  up  her  hair  in  her  arm, 
and  came  up  to  Umra-Singh,  and  flung  it  round 
him  like  a  noose,  and  whispered  in  his  ear,  with 
lips  that  caressed  it  as  they  moved:  O  foolish 
bee,^  I  am  but  a  lotus  of  the  night:  yet  why  de- 
spise me,  in  comparison  with  the  absent  lotus  of 
the  day?  It  is  hot  and  dusty,  and  I  am  cool  and 
fragrant  as  the  nectar  of  that  moon  in  whose  light 
I  blow.  And  Umra-Singh  trembled.  For  there 
came  from  her  hair  a  strange  wind,  like  a  cloud 
of  the  sweet  of  a  thousand  scents,  that  lured  his 
soul  to  listen  and  dream  in  the  lulling  murmur 
of  her  mouth.  And  as  he  closed  his  eyes  for  fear, 
he  saw  before  him  the  blue  scorn  in  the  eyes  of 
Shri,  and  the  sound  of  her  laughter  and  the  noise 
of  the  drums  and  the  voices  of  the  criers  boomed 
in  his  ear,  and  drowned  Ulupi's  spell.  And  he 
shook  himself  free  from  her  hair,  and  said: 
Beauty,  1  am  a  Rajpoot  of  the  race  of  the  Sun: 
what  have  I  to  do  with  a  lotus  of  the  moon? 

>  This  word  here  used  may  mean  either  a  bee  or  a  lover  or  a 
wanderer  {bhramara). 


A  Lotus  of  the  Night  283 

Then  Ulupi  screamed,  like  a  wounded  elephant. 
And  she  seized  him  by  the  arm  and  shook  him 
\'iolently,  and  exclaimed :  Hast  thou  a  stone  within 
thy  breast,  instead  of  a  heart,  that  my  beauty 
cannot  touch  thee?  For  I  know  that  I  am 
beautiful,  and  there  is  not  beauty  like  mine  in  the 
three  worlds.  And  Umra-Singh  looked  at  her, 
and  wondered,  for  her  fury  made  her  more  lovely 
than  before.  And  he  said:  O  daughter  of  a 
Daitya,  thou  speakest  the  truth:  yet  a  vessel 
that  is  full  can  hold  no  more,  be  the  liquor  what 
it  may,  and  such  is  my  heart.  Let  me  now  pass 
by  thee,  as  undeserving  thy  regard:  for  I  am 
bound  for  the  Land  of  the  Lotus  of  the  Sun. 
Then  said  Ulupi,  with  a  stamp  of  her  foot:  Fool! 
thou  shalt  never  see  that  Lotus  Land. 

And  she  looked  at  him  with  a  jeering  laugh: 
and  instantly  she  sat  down,  and  wound  herself  up 
in  her  long  hair,  and  began  to  weep.  And  as  she 
wept,  the  tears  ran  down  from  her  eyes  like  a 
river,  and  fell  into  the  lake.  Immediately  the 
lake  began  to  rise  and  swell,  and  flood  the  wood 
with  water.  And  as  Umra-Singh  stood  gazing 
at  her  with  astonishment,  he  found  himself  stand- 
ing in  a  vast  marsh,  with  the  trees  of  the  forest 
for  rushes.  And  he  looked,  and  lo!  suddenly 
that  delusive  daughter  of  a  Daitya  became  a 
mist,  and  floated  away  over  the  water  like  vapour. 


284         The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

And  Umra-Singh  heard  her  laughter  dying  away 
in  the  distance  as  she  went,  and  he  was  left  alone 
in  the  wood,  with  the  water  up  to  his  waist. 

VII 

THE   SILVER   SWANS 

And  as  the  water  kept  on  rising,  rising,  Umra- 
Singh  said  to  himself :  Extraordinary  is  the  guile 
of  women,  and  copious  their  tears,  but  this 
daughter  of  a  Daitya  surely  surpasses  them  all. 
For  who  ever  heard  of  tears  that,  like  rivers, 
could  flood  a  quarter  of  the  world?  But  in  the 
meanwhile,  before  I  find  my  death  in  these  rising 
waters,  it  is  better  to  take  refuge  in  a  tree.  So 
he  climbed  up  into  a  tree,  and  looked  out  over 
the  water,  on  which  the  mist  hung  in  the  moon- 
light like  a  curtain  of  silver  on  a  floor  of  lapis- 
lazuli.  And  he  said  to  himself:  Is  this  merely 
an  illusion,  or  rather,  is  not  this  wood  well  named, 
being  in  very  truth  the  matted  hair  of  the  great 
god,  with  these  trees  for  hairs,  and  this  water 
for  the  Ganges  that  wanders  among  them,^  and 
yonder  moon  the  very  ornament  of  the  moon- 

»  The  Ganges  fell  from  heaven,  and  Shiwa  caught  it  on  his 
head,  where  it  wandered  in  his  hair  for  a  thousand  years 
before  it  could  find  its  way  down.  A  legend  which  doubt- 
less has  reference  to  the  vast  plateaiix  of  the  Himalaya  and 
Tibet. 


The  Silver  Swans  285 

crested  god.  But  this  water  goes  on  rising,  and 
I  must  ascend  higher  into  the  tree. 

So  he  climbed  up,  and  up,  and  as  he  climbed, 
the  water  rose  after  him,  higher  and  higher,  until 
at  last  he  could  see  nothing  but  the  water,  and 
the  moon,  and  the  tree  that  stretched  away  above 
him  into  the  sky.  And  as  he  went,  he  said  to 
himself:  Up  I  must  go,  for  there  is  no  other  re- 
source: and  now,  unless  like  the  husband  of 
Shri,^  I  could  save  myself  on  the  back  of  a  tor- 
toise from  this  very  sea  of  water,  I  must  surely 
be  destroyed.  For  unless  this  extraordinary 
tree  has  no  top,  I  must  presently  reach  it,  and 
meet  with  my  death  at  the  same  time.  And 
even  without  the  water,  as  to  how  I  am  to  get 
down  again,  I  have  not  an  idea.  So  he  con- 
tinued to  climb  and  climb,  while  the  water  rose, 
and  the  moon  sank,  and  the  night  gradually 
came  to  an  end. 

And  then  the  sun  rose  over  the  eastern  moun- 
tain, and  began  like  himself  to  climb  up  into  the 
sky.  And  the  sweat  poured  from  his  limbs,  and 
at  last  he  stopped,  overcome  with  fatigue.  And 
he  said  to  himself:  Now  I  can  go  no  further. 
Since  I  must  now  in  any  case  perish,  why  should 

'  He  compares  himself  to  the  husband  of  the  other  Shrf, 
i.  e.,  the  Goddess  of  Beauty,  or  Wishnu,  whose  second  incar- 
nation was  that  of  a  tortoise. 


286  The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

I  go  on  climbing  in  vain?  For  surely  I  am  on 
the  very  roof  of  the  world,  and  alone  with  the 
sun  in  the  sky. 

And  as  he  looked  down,  suddenly  he  saw  before 
him  no  water  and  no  tree,  and  his  head  grew 
dizzy,  and  his  vision  swam,  and  he  could  scarcely 
believe  his  eyes. 

For  he  stood  on  the  peak  of  a  high  mountain, 
in  the  very  zenith  of  the  sky.  And  all  round  him, 
and  all  before  him,  and  behind  him,  was  a  vast 
desert  of  burning  sand,  that  stretched  away  to 
the  very  limit  of  the  range  of  sight,  and  on  its 
edges  rested  the  quarters  of  heaven.  And  it 
glowed  in  the  fire  of  the  sun's  rays  like  a  furnace, 
and  was  furrowed  and  pitted  with  holes  and 
chasms;  and  its  surface  rose  and  fell,  as  he 
watched  it,  like  a  woman's  breast,  and  it  looked 
as  if  it  were  alive,  though  it  was  in  truth  the  home 
of  death.  And  as  he  gazed,  he  saw,  how  over  it 
there  crawled  swiftly  living  things  with  pointed 
tails,  of  the  colour  of  sand,  which  entered  the 
desert  by  the  holes,  and  issued  from  them,  and  at 
length  stood  still,  and  became  invisible,  save  that 
their  tails  never  rested,  and  their  bright  eyes 
stood  out  of  the  sand,  to  watch.  And  it  seemed 
to  Umra-Singh,  in  the  loneliness  of  that  vast  soli- 
tude, that  all  those  hideous  eyes  sought  him  out, 
and  fastened  on  him,  and  rested  on   him  alone, 


The  Silver  Swans  287 

saying  to  him  as  it  were:  Thou  canst  not  es- 
cape. 

And  then  he  said  to  himself:  Now  there  is  in- 
deed no  help  for  me,  and  beyond  a  doubt,  my  end 
has  come.  For  to  remain  here  is  impossible,  and 
equally  certain  the  death  that  lies,  either  in  going 
forward  or  going  back.  And  yet  I  could  wish  to 
die,  if  at  all,  not  in  the  presence  of  eyes  such  as 
these,  but  in  the  colour  of  the  eyes  of  Shri.  Yet 
how  shall  I  escape  the  vigilance  of  yonder  dread- 
ful Dwellers  in  the  Sand,  wading  with  difficulty 
in  its  substance  that  will  sink  under  my  feet  like 
the  waves  of  the  sea,  but  over  which  they  scud 
like  the  shadow  of  a  cloud. 

So  all  day  he  remained  on  that  high  place,  not 
daring  to  descend.  And  then  at  length  the  sun 
went  to  his  rest  in  the  western  quarter,  and  the 
moon  rose,  and  was  reflected  in  the  bright  eyes  of 
those  sand-haunting  Rakshasas,  which  glittered 
in  the  distance  on  the  dark  desert  like  drops  of 
water  on  the  leaf  of  a  black  lotus.  And  all  night 
long  Umra-Singh  lay  and  watched  them,  as  a 
bird  watches  the  eyes  of  a  snake. 

Then  in  the  early  dawn  he  looked,  and  as  the 
light  of  morning  began  to  glimmer  in  the  distance 
on  the  edge  of  the  world,  he  saw  far  away  in  the 
pale  air  two  dark  specks  in  the  sky.  And  as  he 
gazed,  they  grew  larger  and  rapidly  approached 


288  The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

him,  sending  back  to  him,  Hke  mirrors,  the  red 
rays  of  the  rising  sun.  And  they  drew  nearer, 
and  he  saw  that  they  were  a  pair  of  silver  Swans, 
carrying  in  their  bills  the  dead  body  of  a  third,  of 
gold.  So  these  two  Swans  crossed  over  that 
dreadful  desert  with  the  rapidity  of  the  lightning 
that  resembled  them,  and  settled  beside  him  on 
the  hill,  to  rest. 

Then  said  Umra-Singh:  Hail!  ye  fair  birds: 
surely  ye  are  no  birds,  but  deities,  fallen  into  these 
bodies  of  swans  by  reason  of  a  curse.  Whence 
come  ye,  and  whither  go  ye,  and  what  is  this  dead 
golden  body  that  ye  carry  as  ye  go?  Then  said 
the  Swans :  We  are  carrying  home  the  body  of  our 
king,  far  away  to  the  Md,nasa  lake.  For  he  died 
yesterday,  in  the  Land  of  the  Lotus  of  the  Sun. 
And  now  we  must  bear  him  ever  onward  swiftly  to 
his  own  country,  that  the  funeral  ceremonies  may 
duly  be  performed. 

But  when  Umra-Singh  heard  them  name  the 
Land  of  the  Lotus,  his  heart  leaped  in  his  breast. 
And  sword  in  hand,  he  rushed  on  the  dead  body 
with  a  shout.  And  he  said  to  the  Swans :  As  you 
carried  him  hither  from  that  Land  of  the  Lotus 
of  the  Sun,  so  swear  now,  that  you  will  carry  me 
first  back  thither,  leaving  him  here  till  you  return : 
otherwise  I  will  keep  him,  and  cut  you  to  pieces. 

Then  seeing  that  there  was  no  help  for  it,  the 


The  Land  of  the  Lotus  289 

Swans  said ;  Be  it  so :  and  they  bound  themselves 
to  him  by  an  oath.  And  then  Umra-Singh  took 
hold  of  them  by  the  neck,  one  in  each  hand ;  and 
they  stretched  out  their  necks,  and  flew  away  with 
him  over  the  desert  as  he  hung.  And  he  left  far 
behind  him  the  eyes  of  those  hideous  Rakshasas 
glowing  in  the  sand  as  if  with  rage  to  see  him 
escape:  and  after  a  long  while,  they  came  to  the 
edge  of  the  desert.  And  Umra-Singh  looked  down 
and  saw,  far  below  him,  the  blue  sea,  shimmering 
like  the  eyes  of  Shri.  And  at  a  distance  in  the 
water,  like  a  dusky  jewel  on  a  purple  carpet,  he 
saw  an  island,  with  a  city  on  it.  So  he  said  to  the 
Swans ;  What  is  that  which  I  see  below  me?  And 
they  said :  It  is  the  Land  of  the  Lotus  of  the  Sun. 
Then  in  his  delight,  Umra-Singh  let  go  his  hold, 
and  clapped  his  hands.  And  instantly  he  fell 
down  like  a  stone  into  the  sea.  But  the  Swans 
returned  swiftly  over  the  desert  to  the  body 
which  they  had  left  upon  the  hill. 

VIII 

THE    LAND   OF   THE    LOTUS 

But  Umra-Singh  rose  out  of  the  water  like  a 
fowl,  and  saw  the  Land  of  the  Lotus  away  on  the 
sea  before  him.  And  he  shouted  for  joy,  and 
began  to  swim  in  that  direction.     And  he  swam 


290  The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

on  all  day,  and  at  last,  though  with  difficulty,  he 
reached  the  shore,  when  his  strength  was  almost 
gone.  And  he  crept  up  out  of  the  water,  as  the 
sun  was  going  down;  and  overcome  with  weari- 
ness, he  lay  down,  there  where  he  came  up  out  of 
the  sea,  and  fell  asleep.  And  all  night  long  he 
slept,  and  all  day ;  and  when  the  moon  had  risen 
again,  full  and  round,  as  if  to  see  whether  he  was 
still  there,  he  awoke. 

And  then  he  stood  up,  and  rubbed  his  eyes,  and 
exclaimed:  Ha!  now  I  am  at  my  journey's  end. 
and  all  its  dangers  are  gone  like  dreams  And  this 
is  that  wonderful  Land  of  the  Lotus  of  the  Sun, 
of  which  no  one  in  Indirdlay^  had  ever  heard' 
So  now  that  I  am  here,  what  remains  for  me  to  do, 
but  to  leave  it,  and  go  back  again  as  quickly  as 
possible.  For  I  desired  to  find  it,  only  to  say 
that  I  had  been  there.  And  yet  when  I  return, 
who  will  believe  me?  It  were  better,  now  that  I 
am  here,  to  examine  it,  and  learn  its  peculiarities, 
that  I  may  not  twice  meet  with  the  treatment 
due  to  impostors. 

So  he  went  up  from  the  shore,  and  through  the 
streets  of  the  city,  that  lay  before  him,  black  and 
wliite,  in  the  rays  of  the  silver  moon.  And  he  met 
nobody,  but  it  was  empty,  and  dark  as  a  barren 
womb,  and  silent  as  a  stone  incarnation  of  the 
spirit  of  death.     And  as  he  wandered  up  and 


The  Land  of  the  Lotus  291 

down,  he  came  at  last  to  a  great  palace,  whose 
doors  stood  wide  open,  as  much  as  to  say:  Come 
in.  So  he  went  in,  and  passed  along,  wondering, 
with  echoing  steps,  from  room  to  room.  Then  on 
a  sudden  he  entered  a  door,  and  found  himself  in 
a  vast  hall,  whose  walls  were  pierced  with  tall 
windows,  through  which  the  moonlight  fell,  cold 
as  camphor,  on  moonstones  that  hung  in  clusters 
from  the  roof.  And  from  them  the  nectar  fell 
slowly,  drop  by  drop,  upon  the  floor.  And  at  the 
far  end  of  the  room,  on  a  golden  couch,  he 
saw  lying  a  dead  body,  covered  with  a  white 
pall. 

Then  he  said  to  himself:  What  is  this  wonder, 
and  who  can  it  be  that  lies  here,  alone  in  this 
empty  hall?  And  he  moved  on  slowly,  through 
the  lights  of  the  windows  and  the  shadows  of  the 
walls,  till  he  came  up  to  the  end  of  the  hall,  and 
stood  beside  the  couch.  And  he  stooped  down, 
and  lifted  up  the  edge  of  the  pall,  and  uncovered 
the  face,  and  looked,  and  lo!  it  was  the  face  of 
Shri. 

And  Umra-Singh  was  so  astounded,  that  he 
leaped  into  the  air,  and  uttered  a  cry :  and  he  let 
his  sword  fall  with  a  crash  upon  the  crystal  floor. 
And  he  said  to  himself :  Is  it  a  dream,  or  is  it  an 
illusion?  Lo!  I  left  her  living  in  Indir^layd,  and 
I  have  travelled  over  the  three  worlds,  and  here 


292  The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

at  the  end  of  space  I  find  her  again,  lying  dead  in 
this  empty  hall ! 

So  he  stood,  like  a  picture  on  a  wall,  gazing  in 
silence  at  the  face  of  Shri,  while  the  night  wore 
away,  and  the  moon  travelled  on,  and  the  nectar 
from  the  moonstones  fell  slowly,  drop  by  drop, 
upon  the  ground,  and  the  shadows  moved  round 
upon  the  floor.  And  at  last,  after  a  long  while,  he 
came  to  himself.  And  he  let  the  pall  fall  from  his 
hand,  recovering  the  face.  And  he  stooped  down, 
and  took  up  his  sword,  and  went  slowly  out  of 
that  strange  hall,  and  sat  down  on  the  steps  of  a 
marble  tank,  and  fell  into  a  waking  dream.  And 
as  he  gazed  into  vacancy,  he  saw  before  him  the 
blue  ocean  of  the  eyes  of  Shri;  and  his  memory 
echoed  with  faint  murmurs  of  the  sound  of  drums 
and  the  voices  of  criers;  and  they  filled  his  soul 
with  whispers  coming  from  an  infinite  distance 
across  the  years  of  separation,  until  at  length  the 
sun  rose. 

Then  Umra -Singh  rose  up  also,  and  he  struck 
his  forehead  with  his  hand.  And  he  exclaimed: 
I  cannot  tell,  whether  it  is  reality,  or  whether  it  is 
a  dream.  But  this  I  know,  that  now  I  must  get 
back  without  delay  to  Indiralayd,  and  cross,  some- 
how or  other,  over  that  sea,  and  that  terrible 
desert,  and  through  that  hideous  wood,  and  tell 
my  story  to  the  King,  and  claim  my  bride.     But 


Recognition  293 

first  I  will  bathe  in  yonder  pool :  for  my  heart  is 
heavy,  and  my  head  aches,  for  all  that  I  have 
endured  during  the  night,  and  all  that  I  have 
seen. 

And  he  went  down  the  steps,  and  plunged  into 
the  waters  of  the  pool. 

IX 

RECOGNITION 

And  as  he  rose  from  the  water,  there  rang  in  his 
ears,  loud  and  clear,  the  sound  of  the  beating  of 
drums.  And  he  listened,  and  heard  the  criers 
crying:  WJiatsoever  high-caste  man  has  been  to  the 
Land  of  the  Lotus  of  the  Sun,  let  him  come  to  the 
King:  he  shall  share  the  King's  kingdom,  and 
marry  the  King's  daughter.  And  he  looked  round. 
Lo!  he  was  standing  in  that  very  tank  in  In- 
diralaya,  from  which  he  had  started,  years  before, 
to  find  the  Land  of  the  Lotus  of  the  Sun.  Then 
in  his  amazement,  his  flesh  crept,  and  his  hair 
stood  on  end.  And  he  stood  in  the  pool  like  a 
pillar  of  stone,  with  the  water  streaming  from  his 
body,  and  doubt  bewildering  his  soul.  And  he 
said  to  himself:  Is  it  indeed  reality,  or  is  it  a 
dream  ?  And  what  has  become  of  the  Land  of  the 
Lotus,  and  all  my  toil  ?  For  here  I  am  in  Indira- 
laya,  and  there  are  the  very  criers  whom  I  left 


294  The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

behind  me,  crying,  and  beating,  just  as  they  did 
before,  their  drums! 

And  then  suddenly  he  uttered  a  shout,  and  ex- 
claimed :  Well,  now  I  will  go  to  the  King,  for  the 
time  has  come  to  claim  the  reward.  And  he 
leaped  out  of  the  water,  and  ran  up  the  steps  like 
one  that  is  mad,  and  went  up  to  the  criers,  and 
said  to  them:  Cease  this  useless  crying,  and  this 
empty  beating  of  drums,  and  take  me  quickly  to 
the  King,  for  I  have  seen  that  Lotus  Land.  And 
the  criers  did  not  recognise  him,  but  they  were 
full  of  joy  at  hearing  his  words:  for  their  crying 
had  made  them  weary  of  life.  So  as  they  were 
preparing  to  take  him  to  the  King,  he  clapped  his 
hands,  and  said  again:  Quick!  delay  not!  but 
make  haste,  great  haste!  or  else  my  heart  will 
break.  For  I  endured  separation,  when  union 
seemed  at  a  distance,  with  ease:  but  now  that 
the  moment  of  reunion  approaches,  my  heart  is 
breaking:  every  moment  seems  an  age:  and  if 
you  delay  long,  I  cannot  endin-e.  Then  the  criers 
made  great  haste,  and  brought  him  as  quickly 
as  possible  to  the  King. 

But  when  the  King  saw  Umra-Singh,  he  looked 
at  him  narrowly,  and  knew  him  again,  for  all  that 
he  was  changed.  And  he  said  to  himself :  Surely 
this  is  that  very  rogue,  who  came  to  me  before  to 
cheat  me;    and  now,  here  he  is  again!     And  he 


Recognition  295 

said  to  Umra-Singh :  I  know  thee,  thou  impostor. 
Beware!  for  this  time  thou  shalt  not  escape. 
Then  said  Umra-Singh:  King,  be  it  as  thou  wilt. 
Only  let  me  see  thy  daughter,  and  that  quickly: 
for  I  have  really  seen  that  Lotus  Land :  thereafter 
deal  with  me  as  it  may  please  thee  best.  And  as 
he  spoke,  ungovernable  impatience  seized  him: 
and  he  stamped  his  foot  upon  the  ground,  and 
tears  came  into  his  eyes,  and  suddenly  he  began 
to  laugh.  And  the  King  looked  at  him  with 
curiosity,  and  wondered  at  him:  and  he  said  to 
himself:  Either  this  fellow  is  mad,  or  it  is  as  he 
says,  and  he  has  really  seen  that  Lotus  Land. 
But  he  said  again  to  Umra-Singh:  Remember, 
if  this  time  also  thou  art  playing  false,  death  is 
the  reward.  Umra-Singh  said:  Show  me  thy 
daughter,  and  put  me  then  to  any  kind  of  death. 
So  the  King  sent  for  his  daughter,  and  after  a 
while,  Shri  came  in. 

But  when  Umra-Singh  saw  her  enter,  he  sobbed 
aloud,  and  strode  towards  her.  And  as  she 
turned  her  eyes  on  him  in  fear,  he  plunged  his 
fainting  soul  into  their  azure  sea.  And  in  an  in- 
stant he  forgot  his  journey  and  his  toil,  and 
obtained  in  that  moment  the  nectar  of  emancipa- 
tion from  the  hunger  of  longing,  and  the  pain  of 
separation,  and  the  terror  of  untimely  death. 
And  Shri  looked  at  him,  as  he  stood  before  her^ 


296  The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

and  instantly  she  knew  him  again.  And  her 
heart  beat  in  her  bosom  like  a  dnim,  and  she  was 
seized  with  trembling,  and  could  not  speak,  for 
fear  and  doubt.  For  again  the  forgotten  ties  of 
her  former  birth  fought  for  utterance  in  her  soul, 
and  yet  she  feared  him  for  his  insolence,  and  de- 
spised him  for  his  poverty :  for  he  was  ten  times 
leaner  and  more  ragged  than  before.  And  long 
she  looked  at  him  without  speaking.  And  then 
at  last  she  found  her  voice,  and  spoke,  and 
said  slowly:  What!  is  it  thou,  most  doughty 
traveller?  And  hast  thou  made  another  story? 
Good  it  had  better  be,  thy  second  tale,  for  never 
shalt  thou  live  to  make  a  third. 

But  Umra-Singh  leaned  towards  her,  with 
hungry  eyes,  for  his  soul  yearned  for  the  repeti- 
tion of  a  forgotten  past.  And  he  looked  at  her 
long  and  wistfully,  till  her  glance  quailed,  for  her 
spirit  was  mastered  by  his  courage  and  his  love. 
And  twice  he  strove  to  speak,  and  twice  he 
failed,  while  great  tears  fell  from  his  eyes  upon  the 
ground.  And  then  at  last,  he  became  master  of 
himself.  And  said  he :  Dear,  now  use  me  as  thou 
wilt,  and  put  me  to  any  death.  But  tell  me  first, 
before  I  die:  How  comes  it  that  I  see  thee  here 
alive,  and  yet  I  saw  thee,  in  that  Lotus  City, 
lying  dead  upon  a  couch,  in  the  cold  rays  of  the 
moon? 


Recognition  297 

Then  Shri  threw  up  her  arms  with  a  shriek. 
And  she  cried  out :  Ha !  it  is  the  truth :  this  man 
has  really  seen  the  Land  of  the  Lotus  of  the  Sun. 
And  suddenly,  the  veil  of  oblivion  was  drawn  for 
an  instant,  and  she  caught  a  glimpse  of  her  former 
birth,  and  knew  her  husband  again.  And  in- 
stantly she  ran  to  him,  and  threw  herself  into  his 
arms,  and  hung  on  his  breast,  and  clung  to  him, 
like  a  jasmine  creeper  on  a  noble  tree.  And  tears 
fell  from  her  eyes  like  rain,  and  she  laughed  for 
joy,  and  caressed  his  face  with  her  hand,  and 
said:  Brave  heart,  and  didst  thou  dare  to  go 
alone  to  that  distant  Lotus  Land?  Thou  art 
indeed  my  own  husband,  in  this  life  as  in  the  last. 
And  now,  after  long  separation,  I  have  found  thee 
for  an  instant,  and  thou  hast  me.  Only  seek  as 
well  again,  and  we  shall  meet  once  more,  and 
taste  yet  another  drop  of  the  nectar  of  mutual 
enjoyment,  before  we  die ;  for  so  it  is  decreed.  I 
say,  remember:  we  shall  meet  again. 

Then  she  stood  up,  and  pushed  him  back,  so 
violently,  that  he  nearly  fell.  And  all  they  that 
stood  by  watched  her  and  wondered.  For  as 
they  gazed,  she  grew  in  beauty,  like  a  waxing 
moon,  and  flashed  like  a  great  jewel,  and  dazzled 
the  eyes  of  all  like  the  brightness  of  a  lamp :  and 
the  colour  of  her  wondrous  eyes  shot  from  them 
and  streamed  about  the  room,  and  lit  up  its  walls 


298  The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

with  glory  like  that  of  a  setting  sun.  And  seeing 
it,  the  King  her  father  was  full  of  joy,  for  he 
thought:  Now  she  is  going  to  be  married,  and  I 
have  attained  the  fruit  of  my  birth.  But  the 
astrologers  looked  at  each  other  in  dismay,  for 
they  knew  that  she  was  about  to  die.  So  as  they 
gazed,  suddenly  she  dropped  and  fell,  and  lay 
before  them  on  the  floor,  like  a  lotus  smitten  by 
the  frost. 

Then  the  astrologers  said,  gloomily:  She  has 
abandoned  the  body,  and  gone  somewhere  else. 
And  the  King,  seeing  her  fall,  and  hearing  them 
speak,  lost  his  senses,  and  fell  down  beside  her  in 
a  swoon.  But  Umra-Singh  turned,  and  left  the 
palace,  and  went  out  into  the  street. 

X 

SEPARATION 

And  he  reeled  about  like  a  drunken  man,  this 
way  and  that  way,  jostling  the  people,  who  mar- 
velled and  mocked  at  him:  See,  see,  the  ragged 
Rajpoot,  the  suitor  of  the  King's  daughter,  whose 
very  sight  has  killed  her!  But  he  heard  nothing 
but  the  words  of  Shri,  and  saw  nothing  but  her 
eyes.  And  he  staggered  on,  like  a  wooden  doll, 
on  feet  that  moved  of  their  own  accord,  till  as  be- 
fore he  reached  the  tank,  and  sank  down  upon  the 


Separation  299 

ground,  knowing  neither  where  he  was  nor  what 
he  did,  puzzled  about  the  quarters  of  the  world,  ^ 
And  like  a  man,  out  of  whose  universe  the  sun 
and  moon  and  the  five  elements  with  their  com- 
pounds have  withdrawn,  leaving  him  alone  in  the 
centre  of  empty  space,  he  lay  motionless,  plunged 
in  stupor,  with  dry  eyes.  Then  all  at  once 
memory  returned  to  him,  and  he  began  to  weep. 
And  he  wept,  as  if  he  contained  within  him  the 
very  fountains  of  the  salt  sea,  till  at  last  from 
weariness  and  grief  he  fell  asleep  on  the  edge  of  the 
tank.  And  in  his  dreams  Shri  stood  beside  him, 
and  revived  his  parched  soul  with  the  nectar  of  her 
kindly  glance,  as  a  hermit's  daughter  refreshes 
with  water  the  plants  of  the  hermitage  com- 
mitted to  her  charge. 

And  after  drinking  deep  draughts  from  those 
two  foimtains  of  pity  and  love,  he  awoke,  and 
found  that  it  was  now  night,  and  again  he  was 
alone  at  the  moonlit  tank.  And  he  said  to  himself ; 
Alas!  alas!  I  fotmd  my  bride,  and  lost  her  again 
at  the  same  instant,  through  the  terrible  opera- 
tion of  sins  committed  in  a  former  birth.  Now 
indeed  I  am  alone,  for  this  time  she  is  gone  I 
know  not  where,  and  how  am  I  to  look  for  her? 
And  yet  she  told  me  we  should  meet  again,  to 
keep   me  from  despair.     Therefore    now    I   will 

'  Dinmohita  =  desoriente. 


300  The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

wander  away  over  the  wide  world,  and  spend  my 
life  in  seeking  her:  for  but  this,  nothing  is  left  in 
life,  and  the  hope  of  reunion  is  like  the  back  of 
the  Great  Tortoise,  my  solitary  refuge  in  the 
wreck  of  the  three  worlds. 

So  he  rose  up,  and  went  out  of  the  city,  and 
wandered  about,  hither  and  thither,  like  a  bubble 
on  the  waves  of  time.  And  he  went  from  village 
to  village,  and  from  city  to  city,  asking  every- 
where of  all  whom  he  met:  Have  you  seen  Shri, 
my  wife?  you  will  know  her  by  her  eyes,  for  they 
are  full  of  the  colour  of  heaven.  But  however 
much  he  asked,  he  found  no  answer:  nor  could 
any  one  tell  him  anything  about  her.  On  the 
contrary,  all  wondered  at  him  and  turned  him  to 
ridicule.  And  one  would  say :  Who  is  this  moon- 
struck vagabond  who  roams  about  looking  for  a 
blue-eyed  beauty?  And  another:  What  wonder 
that  Shri  has  deserted  such  a  ragged  mendicant, 
who  forsakes  even  the  well-to-do!  And  others 
said :  This  distracted  Rajpoot  wants  the  moon,  but 
he  needs  medicines.^  And  at  last  he  abandoned 
altogether  the  dwellings  of  men,  and  wandered 
continually  in  the  jungle,  with  no  companions 
but  his  shadow  and  his  sword,  looking  in  vain  for 

'  The  point  of  these  gibes  depends  on  the  various  mean- 
ings of  the  word  Shri:  which  may  mean  his  wife,  or  the  god- 
dess of  fortune,  or  the  moon:  out  of  which  come  herbs  or 
medicines. 


The  Lord  of  the  Beasts  301 

the  path  by  which  he  had  gone  on  his  former 
journey  to  the  Land  of  the  Lotus,  and  gazing 
by  day  at  the  pools  of  blue  lotuses,  and  by  night 
at  the  heaven  with  its  stars,  for  they  were  like 
mirrors  and  images  of  the  hues  and  shadows  of 
the  eyes  of  Shri. 

XI 

THE   LORD   OF   THE    BEASTS 

Now  in  the  meanwhile  it  happened  that  Mahesh- 
wara,  as  he  roamed  through  the  sky  with  Pdrwati 
on  his  breast,  looked  down  to  earth,  and  caught 
sight  of  Umra-Singh  wandering  in  the  forest, 
uttering  lamentations,  and  exclaiming:  O  Shri, 
where  art  thou  hiding?  Hast  thou,  like  the 
desert,  no  pity  for  the  antelope  that  is  dying  of 
thirst  for  the  water  of  thine  eyes?  ^  And  im- 
mediately he  remembered  his  boon  to  Kamala- 
mitra,  and  grasped  the  whole  story  from  beginning 
to  end.  So  he  said  to  Uma  with  a  smile :  Go  now 
to  thy  father,  2  and  wait  for  me :  for  there  is  here 
a  matter  that  demands  my  attention.  Then  his 
consort  said  to  him  in  a  cajoling  tone:   What  is 

"  There  is  here  an  untranslatable  play  on  the  word  mriga- 
irishnd,  "the  thirst  of  the  antelope,"  t.  e.,  the  mirage  of  the 
desert,  to  which  he  compares  her  eyes. 

»  I.e.,  the  Himalaya  moimtain,  of  which,  or  rather  of  whom, 
Parwati  is  the  daughter,  as  her  name  signifies. 


302  The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

the  matter?  tell  me.  Maheshwara  said:  I  will 
tell  thee  afterwards :  at  present  I  have  no  leisure : 
depart.  Thereupon  the  goddess  went  off  pouting 
to  the  Snowy  Mountain.  But  the  moon-crested 
god  descended  to  earth.  And  there,  taking  the 
form  of  an  ascetic,  he  entered  the  forest.  And 
standing  in  its  densest  part,  his  body  white  with 
ashes,  garlanded  with  a  necklace  of  skulls,  with 
a  half-moon  in  his  yellow  hair,  he  created  by  his 
supernatural  power  a  gong,  hanging  from  a 
banyan  tree  in  the  centre  of  the  wood.  And  he 
struck  with  his  trident  a  blow  on  that  mind-bom 
gong  that  resounded  through  the  forest  like 
thunder. 

Then  instantly,  hearing  that  terrible  summons, 
all  the  denizens  of  the  wood,  Yakshas  and  Pis- 
hdchas,  Rdkshasas  and  Hamadryads,  with  the 
wild  animals  and  the  rest,  assembled  together 
and  flew  towards  the  sound,  and  crowded  around 
the  gong  like  flies  or  bees  to  honey  or  a  dead 
body.  And  when  they  had  mustered,  they  en- 
quired htmibly  of  that  Lord  of  Creatures  animate 
and  inanimate:  What  orders  has  the  Lord  of  All 
for  his  servants,  and  why  are  we  now  summoned? 
Then  said  the  Great  Ascetic:  There  is  in  this 
wood  a  lover  looking  for  his  bride.  And  she  on 
her  part  will  sometime  or  other  be  here  to  join 
him.     See  that  none  of  you  do  them  actual  harm, 


The  Lord  of  the  Beasts  303 

by  devouring  or  destroying  them:  for  they  are 
to  work  out  their  redemption  in  the  wood,  by  the 
decree  of  destiny  and  my  will  and  pleasure.^ 
For  they  fell  under  a  curse,  and  so  became  mor- 
tals: but  when  they  meet  here,  and  the  circum- 
stances are  favourable,  their  curse  will  have  an 
end.  Therefore  delude  them  if  you  will,  but 
beware  that  you  touch  not  a  hair  of  their  heads. 

Thus  he  spoke,  and  all  assented,  prostrating 
themselves  at  his  feet.  And  then  he  began  to 
dance.  Then  all  joined  furiously  in  the  festival 
of  his  favour,  seized  with  the  madness  bom  of  de- 
votion, uttering  ecstatic  hymns  of  praise,  each  in 
his  own  language.  So  after  that  he  had  sported 
sufficiently,  and  bestowed  on  those  adorers  the 
nectar  of  his  presence,  that  Lord  whose  left  half 
is  his  wife  remembered  his  promise  to  the  Daugh- 
ter of  the  Moimtain,  and  returned  to  the  snowy 
peak  of  Kailks,  to  tell  her  the  story  ancf  coax 

away  her  sulks. 

XII 

THE   OTHER   BODY 

But  in  the  meanwhile  Shri,^  when  she  aban- 
doned the  body  in  Indiralaya,  flew  in  the  twink- 
ling of  an  eye  to  the  Land  of  the  Lotus  of  the  Sun. 
And  there  she  entered  that  other  body,  lying  in 

1  The  Hindoos  never  had  a  Lucian,  to  laugh  at  their 
mythological  contradictions.  They  were  always  too  much 
under  the  spell.  »  See  note,  p.  245. 


304  The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

a  couch  in  the  Palace  hall.  Then  instantly  she 
opened  her  eyes,  and  rose  up,  as  if  awaking  from 
a  dream.  And  she  was  filled  with  astonishment, 
terror,  and  dismay,  when  she  found  herself  alone 
in  the  empty  hall.  And  she  exclaimed:  Alas! 
what  is  this  mystery,  and  how  came  I  into  this 
deserted  hall,  and  in  which  quarter  of  the  world 
am  I,  and  what  has  become  of  my  husband? 
Now  do  I  see  the  terrible  consequences  of  sins 
committed  in  a  former  birth.  Alas!  how  am  I 
to  regain  him,  and  where  is  he  to  be  found? 
Surely  we  are  like  two  tiny  fishes  in  the  infinite 
ocean  of  time.  Yet  even  so,  despair  is  unavail- 
ing. Did  not  Sita  recover  Rama,  and  Shakuntala, 
Dushyanta,  and  Damayanti  cross  the  ocean  of 
separation  and  repose  on  the  shore  in  the  shape 
of  the  embraces  of  Nala?  Truly  omnipotent  is 
the  power  of  love,  and  what  love  was  ever  greater 
than  mine?  For  it  passes  on  from  body  to  body, 
and  draws  fresh  fire  from  each  new  birth. 

Then  she  dressed  herself  in  the  white  pall,^  and 

»  As  this  might  sound  bizarre  to  the  English  reader,  ac- 
customed to  the  elaborate  toilettes  of  Western  ladies,  he 
should  know  that  nothing  can  be  more  simple  than  the  dress 
of  a  Hindoo  woman.  A  single  long  piece  of  stuff,  wound 
like  a  petticoat  round  the  waist,  secured,  and  thrown  over 
the  head  to  form  a  veil,  forms  a  garment  that  the  Greeks 
might  have  envied.  Nothing  can  surpass  the  taste,  beauty, 
and  grace  of  the  way  in  which  it  follows  and  reveals  with- 
out betraying  the  figure  of  its  wearer. 


The  Other  Body  305 

went  hastily  out  of  that  empty  palace,  shrinking 
like  a  fawn  at  the  echo  of  her  own  footsteps,  and 
passed  out  of  the  gates,  and  ran  through  the 
deserted  streets,  down  to  the  very  edge  of  the 
sea.  And  there  she  stood  with  her  bare  feet 
lapped  by  the  waves,  looking  out  eagerly  over  the 
sea,  with  eyes  that  laughed  at  and  shamed  it  of 
its  blue.  And  it  rose  in  agitation  at  her  beauty, 
as  if  stirred  by  the  moon,  while  the  wind  kissed 
her  unaware,  and  played  with  her  hair  and 
clothes.  Then  she  said:  O  Ocean,  art  thou  too 
parted  from  some  one,  that  thou  heavest  long 
drawn  sighs?  Art  thou  also  wrenched  with 
grief,  that  thou  sprinklest  me  with  the  salt  tears 
of  thy  spray? 

And  as  she  gazed,  there  appeared  tossing  on  the 
waves  a  ship,  like  the  realisation  of  her  desire  to 
cross  the  ocean  in  visible  form.  Now  that  ship 
belonged  to  a  great  merchant  captain,  who  was  re- 
turning home  from  a  trading  voyage.  And  when 
he  saw  a  female  figure  standing  alone  on  the  shore, 
he  came  quickly  in  a  boat  to  take  her  captive. 
But  when  he  got  to  the  shore,  and  saw  the  wonder- 
ful beauty  of  her  dark  blue  eyes  and  snow  white 
raiment,  he  was  struck  with  wonder,  and  became 
afraid.  And  he  said  to  her  in  awe:  Surely  thou 
art  some  divinity,  and  no  mere  mortal  maiden. 
Tell  me  thy  name,  that  I  may  know  whom  to 


3o6         The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

adore.  Then  said  Shri :  Sir,  I  am  no  divinity,  but 
a  King's  daughter ;  and  I  am  seeking  for  my  hus- 
band. Carry  me,  of  your  kindness,  over  the  sea, 
for  I  must  find  my  way  to  Indiralaya.  But  hear- 
ing this,  that  merchant  was  overjoyed;  for  he 
thought:  Indiralay^  is  in  another  quarter  of  the 
world,  and  I  will  be  her  husband.  For  he  was 
drowned  in  the  ocean  of  her  eyes.  So  he  said  to 
her:  O  thou  true  daughter  of  a  King,  my  ship  is 
thine  and  all  that  it  contains.  Come  now,  and  I 
will  carry  thee  whithersoever  thou  wilt.  So  Shri 
consented.  And  the  merchant  in  his  delight 
counted  the  whole  world  as  a  straw,  thinking  he 
had  got  her  for  a  wife. 

So  when  he  got  to  the  ship,  he  said  to  her: 
Truly  this  husband  of  thine  is  a  sorry  rascal. 
Out  upon  him,  who  could  leave  such  an  incom- 
parable beauty  as  thine  to  roam  about  the  world 
without  him!  Forget  him  now,  for  I  will  be  thy 
husband.  Then  said  Shri:  This  is  impiety,  nor 
is  my  husband  to  blame  in  this  matter.  Know, 
too,  that  to  a  good  wife  her  husband  is  a  deity. 
Then  said  the  merchant:  Thou  shalt  marry  me 
whether  thou  wilt  or  not :  and  I  care  nothing  for 
piety  or  impiety,  but  only  for  thy  wonderful 
eyes  And  now  I  have  thee,  I  will  keep  thee. 
So  he  carried  her  in  his  ship,  very  carefully, 
closely  guarded,  to  his  own  city,  and  shut  her  in 


The  Other  Body  307 

an  upper  chamber  of  his  house,  hoping  to  prevail 
on  her  in  course  of  time,  neglecting  his  affairs. 

Then  Shri  said  to  herself:  Alas  for  my  beauty, 
which  is  a  curse  and  no  blessing  to  me,  in  that  it 
has  placed  me  in  the  power  of  this  headstrong 
merchant!  Nevertheless,  even  so,  I  have  got 
over  the  sea.  And  now,  I  must  lose  no  time  in 
escaping  from  this  infatuated  sinner,  or  worse 
things  may  come  about.  And  she  went  to  the 
window  and  looked  out.  Now  by  the  ordinance 
of  fate  it  so  happened,  that  at  that  moment  the 
King  of  that  city  was  passing  by  on  his  elephant. 
So  when  she  saw  it,  Shri  said  to  herself:  There  is 
my  deliverance  in  the  form  of  an  elephant.  And 
now  I  must  sin  a  little,  to  save  myself  from  greater 
guilt.  Then  she  called  to  the  mahout:  Come 
nearer,  O  driver  of  the  elephant :  for  I  am  anxious 
to  taste  the  delight  of  riding  on  an  elephant. 
And  hearing  this,  the  mahout  looked  at  the  King. 
And  the  King  looked  at  the  face  of  Shri.  And 
Shri  shot  at  the  King  a  blue  glance  from  her  eye. 
And  instantly  the  King  lost  his  senses,  and  said 
to  the  mahout:  Do  as  she  bids  thee.  So  the 
mahout  brought  the  elephant  under  the  window, 
and  Shri  let  herself  fall  from  the  window  on  to 
his  back.  And  she  caught  hold  of  the  King  to 
save  herself  from  falling,  and  the  King  almost 
fainted  from  excess  of  joy,  and  the  nectar  of  her 


3o8         The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

touch.  And  without  losing  a  moment,  he  carried 
her  off  to  his  palace,  as  delighted  as  if  he  had 
conquered  the  whole  earth.  But  the  merchant, 
when  he  found  that  she  had  gone,  abandoned  the 
body  in  his  despair. 

Then  as  soon  as  they  reached  the  palace,  the 
King  said  to  Shri :  'What  is  thy  name  and  family? 
Shri  said:  I  am  a  King's  daughter  from  a  far 
country,  and  my  name  is  Shri.  Then  said  the 
King:  Thou  didst  well  to  forsake  that  miserable 
trader  for  me.  Should  the  lioness,  forsooth! 
mate  with  the  jackal?  And  now  will  I  place  thee, 
like  a  choice  jewel,  in  the  centre  of  my  diadem, 
and  thou  shalt  be  the  very  apex  of  the  summit  of 
my  fortune.^  Then  said  Shri:  King,  do  not 
speak  thus.  For  I  am  the  wife  of  another.  And 
I  fled  to  thee  for  refuge,  and  not  for  frivolity :  for 
yonder  merchant  would  have  made  me  his  wife 
by  force.  So  do  me  justice,  and  let  me  go:  for 
I  may  not  be  a  wife  to  thee. 

Then  said  the  King:  Thy  dark  blue  eyes  have 
utterly  destroyed  my  sense  of  right  and  wrong, 
which  are  now  mere  words  without  meaning,  im- 
potent to  hold  me  as  is  a  lotus  stalk  to  fetter  that 
elephant  which  brought  thee  hither;   and  in  vain 

«  He  plays  on  her  name.  The  old  Hindoo  rdjas  had  the 
same  veneration  for  their  royal  fortune  (Shri)  as  the  Romans 
for  their  Fors  Fortuna. 


The  Other  Body  309 

dost  thou  talk  to  me  of  letting  thee  go:  thou 
askest  me  for  my  life:  for  till  I  saw  those  un- 
fathomable blue  lakes  which  thou  hast  stolen  to 
make  thee  eyes,  I  never  lived.  Only  consent, 
and  I  will  efface  by  my  devotion  the  memory  of 
thy  husband,  as  the  sun  dries  up  a  shallow  pool. 
But  Shri  said :  Say  not  pool,  but  ocean,  on  which 
the  sun  shines  for  ever,  yet  never  makes  it  any 
less:  for  such  is  my  love  to  my  husband.  But 
the  King  paid  no  heed  to  her  words,  which  entered 
at  his  ear,  but  never  reached  his  mind.  For  all 
his  soul  was  in  his  eyes,  feasting  on  the  face  of 
Shri,  which  made  him  drunk  like  the  juice  of 
Soma.i 

Then  seeing  the  state  of  the  case,  Shri  said  to 
herself:  Alas!  I  have  escaped  the  lesser  danger 
only  to  incur  the  greater,  and  become  the  prey  of 
this  unrighteous  King.  Now  there  is  no  help  for 
me,  save  in  stratagem,  and  the  natural  craft  of 
woman.  And  she  lifted  up  her  lashes,  and  cast 
on  the  King  a  crooked  glance,  that  almost  de- 
prived him  of  his  reason.  And  she  said,  moving 
her  bow-arched  eyebrows,  with  a  smile :  Out  upon 
the  heart  of  woman,  for  it  is  soft  as  a  flower,  and 
averse  to  constancy!  Leave  me  awhile,  for  I 
must  consider  this  matter.     And  yet,  stay  not 

>  A  play  on  her  name,  as  a  digit  of  the  moon:  Soma  is  the 
moon,  and  the  famous  intoxicant  of  the  early  Hindoos. 


3IO  The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

away  too  long,  for  thou  art  good  to  look  upon,  and 
well-fitted  to  be  my  husband,  were  I  not  already 
the  wife  of  another  man.  But  hearing  this,  the 
King  was  utterly  bewildered,  and  doubted  the 
testimony  of  his  ears.  And  he  thought:  Now 
she  will  consent,  after  a  little  coaxing.  And  he 
looked  at  her  as  she  stood  smiling  at  him,  bowing 
like  a  flower  from  the  weight  of  her  bosom  and  the 
slendemess  of  her  waist,  and  laughed  in  his  in- 
toxication, befooled  by  the  roundness  of  her 
limbs  and  the  blueness  of  her  eyes,  and  forgetting 
that  the  Creator  made  woman  to  be  an  instru- 
ment of  delusion,  with  an  exterior  of  honey  and 
an  interior  of  poison.  And  he  left  her  to  perform 
his  kingly  duties,  intending  to  return  without 
delay,  and  thinking  the  fruit  of  his  birth  attained. 
But  as  soon  as  he  was  gone,  Shri  stimmoned 
a  chamberlain,  and  said  to  him:  Take  me  to  the 
Head  Queen,  and  lose  not  a  moment,  or  it  will 
be  the  worse  for  thee.  And  that  chamberlain 
trembled  and  obeyed  her,  for  he  feared  her 
power,  saying  to  himself :  The  King  would  throw 
his  kingdom  into  the  sea  for  a  glance  from  her  eye, 
and  now  my  life  is  on  her  forefinger.  So  when 
Shri  came  before  the  Queen,  she  said  to  her: 
Lady,  thou  art  my  sole  refuge.  Know,  that  the 
King  thy  husband  found  me  to-day  in  the  city, 
and  stole  me  away,  seeking  to  make  me  his  wife. 


A  Light  in  Darkness  311 

Now  contrive  my  escape,  for  I  am  the  wife  of 
another,  and  I  may  not  be  his  wife.  And  do  it 
very  quickly,  for  this  is  an  opportunity  which 
will  never  occur  again.  Then  the  Queen  looked 
at  her,  and  said  to  herself:  She  says  well,  and  I 
must  indeed  send  her  away  without  losing  a 
moment.  For  if  she  remains  here,  and  becomes 
his  wife,  the  King  will  abandon  everything  for 
her  sake,  and  the  state  will  go  to  ruin.  More- 
over, he  will  never  again  have  anything  to  do  with 
me  or  any  other  of  his  queens :  for  her  beauty  is 
like  a  very  feminine  incarnation  of  the  five  arrows 
of  the  god  of  love. 

So  she  summoned  her  confidential  women ;  and 
they  disguised  Shri  as  a  dancing  girl,  and  conveyed 
her  secretly  out  of  the  palace  without  delay.  But 
when  the  King  returned,  and  found  that  she  was 
gone,  he  became  mad.  And  he  put  to  death,  of 
his  retainers,  everything  that  was  male. 

XIII 

A    LIGHT    IN    DARKNESS 

But  Shri,  when  she  got  out  of  the  palace,  in- 
stantly went  out  of  the  city  by  unfrequented 
paths,  and  entered  the  Great  Forest.  For  she 
said  to  herself:  If  I  remain  in  the  city,  I  may  fall 
again  into  the  power  of  the  King,  or,  it  may  be, 


312  The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

of  someone  still  worse.  For  alas!  every  man  that 
sees  me  is  blinded  by  my  eyes,  and  I  shall  not 
always  find  a  door  of  escape  from  persecution. 
Moreover,  to  beauty  without  its  guardian,  wild 
beasts  are  less  dangerous  than  men  with  souls 
through  the  influence  of  passions  worse  than  those 
of  beasts.  Better  far  to  be  devoured  by  an 
animal,  than  become  perforce  the  wife  of  another 
man. 

So  she  went  on  through  the  forest  for  many 
days,  supporting  her  life  on  roots  and  fruits  and 
the  water  of  the  pools  and  streams.  And  she 
tore  her  clothes  to  pieces  in  the  bushes,  and 
pierced  her  feet  with  their  thorns,  leaving  where 
she  passed  on  the  grass  drops  of  blood,  like  rubies, 
mingled  with  the  pearls  of  her  tears  that  fell  beside 
them,  as  often  as  she  thought  of  her  absent  hus- 
band. And  the  deeper  she  went  into  the  wood, 
the  more  her  spirit  sank,  and  the  more  her  soul 
longed  for  the  nectar  of  her  husband's  arms. 
Alas!  the  courage  of  women  is  but  a  pale  and 
lunar  image  in  the  mirror  of  that  of  men,  and 
vanishes  in  their  absence.  And  at  last  there 
came  a  day  when  she  was  seized  with  panic,  and 
a  fear  of  unknown  evil :  and  she  sank  down  at  the 
foot  of  a  tree,  and  watered  its  root  with  her  tears. 

Now  it  happened,  that  some  Bhillas,  hunting, 
by  the  decree  of  destiny,  in  the  forest,  came  upon 


A  Light  in  Darkness  313 

her  track,  and  saw  the  drops  of  blood  upon  the 
leaves.  And  they  followed  them  up,  saying  to 
themselves:  Some  wounded  animal  has  passed 
this  way.  So  as  they  came  along,  every  now 
and  then  they  stopped  and  listened.  And  sud- 
denly, they  heard  the  sound  of  the  voice  of  a 
woman,  weeping  in  the  wood.  Then  full  of 
astonishment,  they  proceeded  in  the  direction  of 
the  sound:  and  all  at  once  they  saw  Shri,  sitting 
under  a  tree,  looking  like  an  incarnation  of  Rati 
grieving  for  her  husband,  when  burned  by 
Maheshwara.i  For  her  clothes  were  torn,  and 
her  hair  was  dishevelled  and  her  great  eyes  filled 
with  tears  resembled  the  petals  of  a  blue  lotus 
sparkling  with  drops  of  water  cast  upon  them  by 
the  sporting  of  swans  in  a  pool.  So  those  wild 
Bhillas  wondered  when  they  saw  her,  and  said  to 
each  other:  What  is  this  marvel  of  a  dancing 
girl,  so  ragged  and  so  beautiful,  weeping  alone  in 
the  wood?  And  then  they  went  up  to  her  and 
stood  round  her  in  a  ring.  And  she  looked  in  the 
midst  of  those  black  barbarians  like  a  digit  of  the 
moon  in  the  jaws  of  Rahu.  Then  after  a  while 
the  spell  of  her  beauty  entered  and  poisoned  the 
hearts  of  those  Bhillas,  like  one  of  their  own 
arrows.  And  each  one  said  secretly  to  himself: 
She  shall  be  my  wife.     So  they  debated  about 

•  See  note  4,  p.  234. 


314         The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

her,  and  proposed  to  each  other  to  draw  lots  for 
her.  But  they  could  not  agree  about  it,  and  fell 
to  quarrelling,  and  it  was  as  if  a  stone  had  been 
dropped  into  a  nest  of  serpents. 

Then  one  laid  hands  upon  her,  and  then  an- 
other, till  she  was  nearly  torn  in  pieces.  And 
finally  they  came  to  blows,  and  fought  for  her 
over  her  body,  filled  by  the  frenzy  begotten  by 
her  beauty,  and  the  desire  of  exclusive  possession.^ 
And  very  soon  they  were  all  either  dead  or  dying 
of  woimds,  for  each  was  more  eager  to  destroy 
another  than  to  protect  himself :  and  they  lay  all 
about  her  unable  to  move.  Then  Shri,  seizing 
her  opportunity,  and  urged  by  terror,  rose  up 
and  fled  away  from  them,  being  sprinkled  by 
their  blood,  mingled  with  her  own,  for  she  had 
received  in  the  struggle  a  blow  from  a  Bhilla  that 
was  meant  for  another.  And  she  ran  on,  stum- 
bling over  roots  and  creepers  in  her  haste,  till 
she  came  at  last  to  a  forest  pool.  And  there  she 
lay  down  at  the  edge  of  the  water  and  drank 
greedily;  and  afterwards  washed  her  wound  and 
stains,  and  bathed  her  feet,  and  overcome  by 
weariness,  fell  asleep.  Then  the  moon  rose,  and 
stole  through  the  trees  and  kissed  her  with  beams 
that  trembled  with  admiration ;  2    and  the  wild 

>  Ahamahamikd,  "each  one  saying  I,  I." 

»  The  Moon  proper,  in  Sanskrit,  is  Lunus,  not  Luna. 


A  Light  in  Darkness  315 

animals  came  down,  one. by  one,  to  drink  at  the 
pool,  and  obedient  to  the  commands  of  Triam- 
baka,  did  her  no  harm,  but  licked  her  feet  and 
hands  as  she  lay. 

Now,  as  fate  would  have  it,  this  was  the  very 
pool,  at  which  Umra-Singh  had  met  with  Ulupi, 
the  daughter  of  the  Daitya.  And  in  course  of 
the  night,  Ulupi  came  herself  to  the  pool,  to 
dance  and  sport  according  to  her  wont.  And 
when  she  arrived,  she  saw  Shri,  lying  asleep  by 
the  pool.  So  she  came  and  stood  over  her,  and 
marvelled  at  the  beauty  of  her  limbs,  even  though 
her  eyes  were  shut.  And  at  last,  out  of  curiosity, 
she  touched  her  on  the  bosom  with  her  finger, 
saying  to  herself:  Is  this  an  illusion,  or  is  it  a 
real  woman,  and  is  she  dead  or  alive?  But  Shri 
shuddered  at  her  touch,  for  it  suggested  evil  to 
her  sleeping  soul.  And  she  opened  her  eyes, 
and  their  deep  blue  awoke  the  envy  of  the  daugh- 
ter of  the  Daitya,  and  astonished  her  even  more 
than  before. 

Then  they  looked  at  each  other,  like  light  and 
darkness,  and  each  wondered  at  the  loveliness  of 
the  other,  forgetful  of  her  own.  And  at  last 
Ulupi  said :  Who  art  thou,  and  what  is  thy  name 
and  family,  and  whence  hast  thou  come  to  my 
pool,  and  why?  Shri  said:  I  am  a  King's  daugh- 
ter, looking  for  my  husband,  whom  I  lost,  by  the 


3j6         The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

operation  of  crimes  in  a  former  birth,  at  the  very 
moment  that  I  found  him  again,  after  that  he 
had  returned  to  me  from  the  Land  of  the  Lotus 
of  the  Sun.  But  when  Ulupi  heard  her,  she  was 
filled  with  sudden  rage  and  malice.  And  she 
said  to  herself:  Ha!  so  this  is  that  absent  lotus 
of  the  day,  by  reason  of  whom  my  beauty  was 
scorned,  and  set  at  nought  by  the  handsome 
stranger  who  saw  me  dancing  by  my  pool.  And 
instantly  she  started  up,  and  assuming  a  terrific 
form,  she  gnashed  at  Shri  with  teeth  like  saws, 
and  made  horrible  grimaces  at  her,  saying: 
Wretch,  thou  shalt  never  quit  this  wood,  but 
wander  for  ever  with  thy  accursed  beauty  among 
its  trees,  haunted  and  beset  by  hideous  illusions 
till  thou  shalt  long  for  death.  Let  thy  absent 
hu  band  save  thee  if  he  can.  And  she  vanished 
with  a  peal  of  laughter,  leaving  Shri  fainting  by 
the  pool 

But  Ulupi  flew  through  the  wood,  and  foiind 
Nightwalker,  the  old  Wairagi,  and  told  him  all, 
and  begged  of  him  a  boon,  saying:  Torment  this 
miserable  mortal  woman,  and  deceive  her  with 
illusions  for  she  has  done  me  deadly  injury.  And 
Nightwalker  rejoiced  at  the  opportunity,  for  he 
remembered  how  Umra-Singh  had  defied  him, 
and  cut  off  his  tongue  in  the  wood.  But  he  said: 
This  is  no  easy  matter,  for  we  are  forbidden  by 


Illusion  317 

Pashupati  to  do  her  harm.  But  though  I  will 
do  her  no  injury,  I  will  delude  this  wandering 
wife  of  a  vile  husband,  till  she  will  desire  to 
abandon  the  body  of  her  own  accord. 

XIV 

ILLUSION 

But  Shri,  when  she  came  to  herself,  sat  weeping, 
and  fearing  for  herself  in  the  future :  for  she  fore- 
boded evil  from  the  malicious  pranks  of  the 
daughter  of  the  Daitya.  And  yet  she  could  not 
tell,  how  she  could  possibly  have  offended  her,  or 
deserved  her  anger.  And  as  soon  as  day  broke, 
she  rose  up,  and  began  to  go  trembling  through 
the  wood,  in  which  the  shadows  of  night  still 
hung  among  the  trees,  starting  at  the  noise  of  the 
falling  leaves,  and  yearning  for  emancipation 
from  danger  in  the  form  of  her  husband's  presence. 

Then  after  a  while,  she  stopped  and  listened :  for 
she  heard  among  the  trees  steps,  as  of  one  coming 
in  her  direction.  And  her  hea  t  beat  violently, 
as  if  to  say:  Let  me  abandon  thy  body,  and  so 
escape  the  danger  coming  on  thee.  So  she  hid 
herself  in  a  hollow  tree,  and  peeped  out  in  terror. 
And  suddenly,  strange!  there  in  the  dim  twilight 
she  saw  her  husband  coming  towards  her,  looking 
just  as  he  did,  when  she  left  him  in  the  palace  at 
Indiralayd,.     And  instantly  she  ran  towards  him, 


3i8  The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

overcome  by  emotion  and  great  surprise,  and 
caught  him  in  her  arms,  exclaiming:  At  last,  at 
last,  I  have  found  thee  again.  And  she  wept 
aloud,  and  forgot  in  that  moment  all  her  sorrow; 
and  she  looked  at  him,  and  laughed  for  joy,  and 
closed  her  eyes,  as  if,  like  the  sun,  the  sight  of  him 
dimmed  and  overcame  the  faculty  of  vision. 
Then  after  a  while,  she  opened  them  again,  and 
started  and  shrieked,  and  her  blood  became  ice, 
and  her  heart  stopped.  For  he  that  held  her  in 
his  arms  was  not  her  husband,  but  a  hairy  tl.'.ng 
with  hideous  eyes,  that  resembled  an  incarnation 
of  the  brute  in  human  shape;  and  it  fastened 
those  fearful  eyes  upon  her  own,  and  laughed  and 
whined  and  panted  like  a  beast  with  hot  quick 
breath  into  her  face.  Then  her  senses  abandoned 
her,  like  cowards,  and  she  sank  down  to  the  earth 
in  a  swoon. 

And  when  at  length  she  revived,  she  looked, 
and  saw  that  the  sun  was  declining  in  the  western 
quarter.  But  the  moon  had  not  yet  risen,  for  it 
was  the  beginning  of  the  dark  half  of  the  month. 
Then  all  at  once  memory  came  back  to  her,  and 
she  shook  with  agitation.  And  she  said  to  her- 
self :  Was  it  a  reality,  or  was  it  only  an  evil  dream? 
Surely  it  was  but  a  dream;  for  I  am  very  weak 
and  tired.  And  even  now  I  cannot  tell,  whether 
I  wake  or  sleep. 


Illusion  319 

So  she  sat  with  her  eyes  closed ;  fearing  to  open 
them,  lest  she  should  see  she  knew  not  what 
among  the  shadows  of  the  trees.  And  then  the 
waning  moon  rose,  and  poured  through  the  inter- 
stices of  the  leaves  beams  faint  and  pallid,  as  if 
sharing  her  own  terror.  And  at  last,  unable  to 
endure  any  longer  the  silence  and  the  solitude,  she 
rose  up  and  began  to  move  slowly,  with  hesitating 
steps,  through  the  dark  wood,  not  knowing  where 
to  go,  yet  not  daring  to  stay  where  she  was. 

And  suddenly,  as  she  went,  she  looked  before 
her,  and  there,  in  an  open  space,  again  she  saw 
her  husband,  lying  still  under  a  tree.  Instantly 
she  stopped,  and  stood,  balanced  in  the  swing  of 
vacillation.  For  the  joy  of  reunion,  and  the  de- 
sire of  safety,  and  the  fear  of  solitude  drew  her 
towards  him  like  a  threefold  cord:  while  the 
memory  of  her  deception,  and  the  fear  of  illusion, 
and  the  anticipation  of  unknown  danger,  fixed 
her  to  the  ground  like  roots.  And  she  wavered, 
and  swayed  on  her  feet,  like  a  young  shoot  fanned 
by  opposing  breezes:  while  large  tears  fell  from 
her  eyes,  like  drops  of  camphor  from  a  moon- 
stone.^ And  as  she  stood  there  doubting  whether 
he  were  dead  or  alive,  for  his  face  was  wan  in  the 

«  The  Hindoos  have  a  superstition,  illustrated  in  a  pre- 
vious page,  that  moonstones  in  the  rays  of  the  moon  distil 
a  sort  of  lunar  syrup,  nectar  or  camphor,  supposed  to  be 
composed  of  the  substance  of  the  moon. 


320  The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

light  of  the  pallid  moon,  his  eyes  opened,  and 
met  her  own.  And  he  sprang  up,  and  ran  towards 
her,  while  she  remained  unable  to  stir,  and  took 
her  in  his  arms,  while  she  shrank  from  his  em- 
brace. And  he  exclaimed:  The  sight  of  thee 
has  lifted  me  out  of  the  mouth  of  death,  for  I  had 
determined  to  abandon  the  body.  And  then  he 
said  again:  Alas!  and  why,  O  thou  of  the  lovely 
eyes,  dost  thou  shr.nk  from  me?  But  Shri  re- 
mained silent,  torn  by  suspicion,  and  shaken  by 
the  beating  of  her  own  heart.  And  ever  and 
anon  she  raised  her  eyes,  and  looked  at  him  in 
doubt.  And  then  at  last  she  said  slowly:  Art 
thou  indeed  my  husband?  is  it  really  thyself  and 
no  one  else  ?  Then  he  said :  What  is  thy  question 
or  thy  doubt?  Hast  thou  forgotten  me  already? 
Surely  it  is  but  a  little  while  since  I  lost  thee  in 
the  palace  of  Indiralaya.  Then  said  Shri,  sighing: 
There  came  to  me  but  now  one  who  resembled 
thee  in  every  feature,  and  deceived  me :  and  even 
now,  I  shudder  when  I  think  of  it,  lest  thou  too 
should  be  another  such  as  he. 

Then  he  said:  Dear,  thou  art  weak,  and  a 
dream  has  deceived  thee:  but  this  time,  it  is  no 
dream.  Know  that  I  am  none  other  than  my- 
self, and  thou  art  with  me.  Let  me  dispel  thy 
terror  with  a  kiss.  And  he  bent  down,  and  she 
raised  her  face  with  a  smile,  saying  to  herself:   It 


The  Dead  of  Night  321 

was  nothing  but  a  dream.  But  even  as  she 
touched  his  face,  it  changed,  and  became  gigantic 
and  misshapen,  with  a  large  tongue  that  hung 
out  of  lips  that  resembled  those  of  a  cow ;  and  it 
broke  out  into  loud  laughter,  and  disappeared. 
But  Shri  fell  to  the  ground,  as  if  menaced  by  the 
outstretched  forefinger  of  death. 


XV 


THE    DEAD    OF    NIGHT 

So  she  lay,  all  night  long:  and  when  at  length 
the  day  dawned,  she  came,  though  with  diffi- 
culty, back  to  herself.  And  she  tried  to  rise,  but 
could  not,  for  her  limbs  refused  to  do  their  duty. 
So  she  lay  there,  cold  as  snow,  and  shivering  like 
the  surface  of  a  lake  ruffled  by  the  wind. 

Then  gradually  the  sun  left  his  home  in  the 
eastern  mountain,  and  ascended  the  sky.  And 
warmed  by  his  beams,  a  little  of  her  strength 
returned :  and  after  a  while,  she  rose  to  her  feet, 
which  wandered  away,  and  carried  her  where  they 
would,  until  they  brought  her  to  another  forest 
pool.  And  there  she  lay  down,  and  leaned  and 
drank  of  its  water.  And  she  looked  into  its 
mirror,  and  saw  herself,  slender  and  emaciated  as 
the  old  moon,  but  pale  and  colourless  as  that  moon 


322  The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

at  midday.  ^  And  her  long  hair  fell  down  over 
her  shoulder  into  the  water.  Then  she  bound  up 
that  wet  hair  into  a  knot,  and  remained  all  day 
by  the  pool,  not  endeavouring  to  go  further:  for 
she  said  to  herself:  Rather  let  me  stay  here  to 
perish  of  hunger,  or  furnish  myself  food  to  some 
wild  beast,  than  continue  my  journey  through  a 
wood  filled  with  illusions  worse  than  a  hundred 
deaths.  For  they  wear  the  guise  of  a  friend,  and 
so  finding  entrance  into  my  heart  sting  it  like 
serpents,  turning  into  poison  the  nectar  of  him 
whom  most  of  all  I  long  to  see.  Surely  my  sins 
in  a  former  birth  were  terrible  in  their  enormity: 
for  I  have  suffered  in  this  existence  pain  sufficient 
for  many  lives.  And  now  I  feel  that  I  cannot 
long  endure,  for  my  strength  is  becoming  ex- 
hausted. O  that  I  could  indeed  find  my  hus- 
band, were  it  only  to  die  in  his  arms! 

So  she  sat  by  the  pool,  grieving  like  a  female 
chakrawdka  for  her  mate,  while  the  sun  made, 
like  the  enemy  of  Bali,  but  three  steps  over  the 
sky.  And  when  at  last  he  sank,  she  also  grew 
weary,  and  fell  asleep  on  the  edge  of  the  pool 
And  in  her  dreams  she  saw  her  husband,   and 

>  The  same  idea  is  beautifully  put  by  Butler  in  Hudibras, 
where  he  calls  the  sun's  light  on  the  moon  a 

"Mysterious  veil,  of  brightness  made, 
That's  both  her  lustre  and  her  shade,' 


Before  Dawn  323 

drank  her  fill  of  the  nectar  of  his  embraces.  And 
then,  in  the  dead  of  night,  she  awoke,  and  sat  up, 
and  looked,  and  lo!  there  in  the  moonlight  she 
saw  him  again,  silently  sitting  beside  her.  And 
she  leaped  to  her  feet  in  agony,  and  turned  to  fly, 
and  screamed  aloud.  For  there  stood  before  her 
another  husband  on  the  other  side.  Then  sud- 
denly the  whole  wood  was  full  of  laughter.  And 
her  reason  fled,  and  she  became  mad.  And  she 
exclaimed :  Out  on  this  wood,  for  it  is  full  of  hus- 
bands! And  she  began  to  run  through  the  wood, 
shutting  her  eyes,  and  stopping  her  ears. 

XVI 

BEFORE   DAWN 

And  now,  by  the  decree  of  destiny,  it  so  hap- 
pened, that  Umra-Singh,  having  wandered  through 
the  whole  world  looking  for  his  wife,  roaming  up 
and  down  in  the  forest,  was  lying  asleep  in  an- 
other place,  close  to  that  very  pool.  And  sud- 
denly he  laughed  in  his  sleep.  For  in  his  dreams 
he  had  found  again  the  Land  of  the  Lotus  of  the 
Sun.  And  he  stood  once  more  in  the  moonlit 
hall,  beside  the  golden  couch.  Then  slowly, 
slowly,  he  raised  the  pall,  and  looked  long  at  the 
face  of  Shri.  But  as  he  gazed,  it  became  apish, 
and  stuck  out  at  him  a  large  red  tongue.     And  he 


324         The  Descent  of  the  Sun 

saw  before  him,  not  Shri,  but  the  old  Wairagi. 
Then  a  shout  of  laughter  rang  in  his  ears,  mingled 
whh  the  voices  of  criers  and  the  din  of  drums; 
and  he  started  to  his  feet  awake,  with  an  icy 
sweat  on  his  brow. 

And  as  he  stood  there,  doubting  still,  for  the 
laug'iter  in  his  waking  ears,  whether  he  woke  or 
slept,  he  looked  before  him,  and  saw  in  the  moon- 
light the  figure  of  a  woman,  running  towards  him : 
and  instantly  he  knew  her  to  be  Shri.  For  out 
of  the  shadow  of  her  floating  hair  her  great  eyes 
glittered  in  the  moon  like  the  blade  of  his  own 
sword,  and  flashed  into  the  night  before  her  like 
lightning  from  a  dark  blue  cloud.  And  he  ran  to 
meet  her  with  a  shout  of  joy.  But  Shri,  when  she 
saw  him  coming,  stopped  short,  and  began  to 
laugh  like  one  possessed  by  a  vampire.  And 
crying:  What,  another!  she  turned  and  fled 
away  from  him  faster  than  ever,  covering  her 
eyes  with  her  hands.  But  Umra- Singh  was  so 
astonished,  that  he  stood  like  a  tree,  rooted  to 
the  ground :  saying  to  himself :  Is  it  reality,  or  is 
it  a  dream?  Yonder  she  flies  from  me  in  terror 
as  if  I  were  an  enemy. 

And  then,  seized  with  frenzy,  he  began  to  pur- 
sue her,  calling  aloud:  Shri!  Shri!  So  they  ran 
through  the  wood  in  the  moonlight,  in  and  out  of 
the  trees,  like  a  spotted  panther  and  a  black  ante- 


Before  Dawn  325 

lope.  And  suddenly,  Shri  slipped  and  fell.  And 
a  tawny  lion  leaped  out  of  the  wood,  before  the 
eyes  of  Umra-Singh,  and  stood  over  her  as  she 
lay.  Then  Umra-Singh  turned  white  with  fear, 
and  uttered  a  groan.  And  in  a  moment  he 
reached  them  as  he  ran,  and  struck  at  the  lion 
with  all  his  force,  a  blow  of  his  sword.  Then  lo! 
that  phantom  lion  vanished,  for  he  was  but  an 
illusion  of  the  crafty  Nightwalker.  But  the 
sword  fell,  sharp  and  true,  on  the  shoulder  of 
Shri,  and  cut  through  to  her  heart. 

Then  Umra-S  ngh  fell  on  his  knees  beside  her 
with  a  wail,  and  took  his  darling  in  his  arms, 
while  her  blood  gushed  out  over  him  like  a  river, 
carrying  away  her  life  And  as  his  hot  tears 
fell  on  her  face  like  rain,  Shri  opened  her  dying 
eyes:  and  instantly  they  were  full  of  peace,  for 
she  knew  that  it  was  her  husband  at  last.  And 
she  said  slowly :  Weep  not  for  me,  O  my  lord,  for 
I  have  attained  the  emancipation  of  union  with 
thee.  All  day  long,  I  have  sought  thee:  but  I 
have  found  thee  in  the  evening,  before  my  sun 
goes  down :  that  is  enough. 


Dawn 


327 


And  at  that  very  moment,  the  curse  came  to 
an  end.  Then  those  two  erring  lovers  regained 
their  immortal  natures.  And  they  looked  at  one 
another,  dazed  and  bewildered,  for  they  thought 
that  they  had  awaked  from  a  dream.  And  their 
spirits  rose  out  of  those  mortal  bodies  which  they 
had  abandoned,  and  soared  away  to  their  heavenly 
home,  locked  in  each  other's  arms. 

But  Maheshwara,  from  his  seat  on  Kailas,  saw 
them  go.  And  perceiving  all,  by  the  power  of  his 
mystical  intuition,  he  said  to  himself:  There  are 
those  two  foolish  lovers  rejoicing  to  have  awaked 
from  a  dream;  not  knowing  that  it  was  but  a 
dream  within  a  dream,  and  that  they  are  still 
asleep.  And  he  laughed  aloud :  and  the  thunder 
of  the  shout  of  his  laughter  rolled  and  reverber- 
ated, and  rattled  in  the  blue  hollows  of  Himalaya, 
like  the  soimd  of  a  drum. 


329 


^H^n^Q^sflnM: 


In  the  Great  God's  Hair 


Thou  art  my  Lord:  I,  thy  SaH: 
I  have  no  other  God  but  Thee. 

— Motto  of  the  Faithful  Hindoo  Wife. 


331 


Dedicated  to  Husbands  and  Wives 


333 


Preface 

The  name  of  the  little  Indian  fable,  here  pre- 
sented to  the  lover  of  curiosities  in  an  English 
dress,  is  ambiguous.  We  may  translate  it  in- 
differently, either:  The  new  moon  in  the  hair  of 
the  God  of  Gods:  or  else :  She  that  reduces  the  pride 
of  Gods,  demons,  and  all  the  rest  of  creation;  that 
is,  the  Goddess  of  Beauty  and  Fortune.  To 
those  unfamiliar  with  the  peculiar  genius  of  the 
Sanskrit  language,  it  might  seem  singular,  that 
two  such  different  ideas  should  be  expressible  by 
the  one  and  the  same  word.  But  it  is  just  in  this 
power  of  dexterous  ambiguity  that  the  beauty  of 
that  language  lies.  As  there  are  butterflies'  and 
beetles'  wings,  of  which  we  find  it  impossible  to 
say,  that  they  are  positively  this  colour  or  that — 
for  according  to  the  light  in  which  we  view  them 
they  change  and  turn,  now  dusk\^  red,  now  pea- 
cock-blue, now  it  may  be  dark  purple  or  old-gold 
— so  a  well-formed  Sanskrit  compound  word  will 
subtly  shoot  and  coruscate  with  meaning,  as  do 
those  wondrous  wings  with  colour:  and  this 
studied  double,  treble,  manifold  signification  of 

335 — 


336  Preface 

its  words  lends  to  the  classic  tongue  a  sort  of 
verbal  sheen,  a  perpetual  undercurrent  of  indirect 
suggestion,  a  by-play  of  allusion,  a  prismatic 
beauty,  of  which  no  other  language  can  convey 
the  least  idea.  For  translation  must  split  up 
what  in  the  original  is  a  imity.*  And  so,  our 
title,  according  to  the  value  which  we  choose  to 
assign  to  its  component  elements,  can  be  taken 
to  denote,  either  the  hair- jewel  of  the  moon- 
crested  god,  or  the  universal  pre-eminence  of 
world- wildering  Aphrodite. 

And  at  the  risk  of  incurring  the  charge  of 
mysticism,  I  would  venture  the  opinion  that  our 
author,  in  wavering  thus  between  two  meanings, 
two  notions  at  first  sight  utterly  distinct  and 
different,  has  instinctively  seized  a  subtle  analogy, 
difficult  to  analyse,  and  more  obvious  perhaps 
in  the  clear  and  silent  Indian  atmosphere  than 
in  our  own  thick  and  foggy  clime :  one,  however, 
to  which  all  ancient  mythologies  bear  witness,  by 
invariably  connecting  their  Great  Goddesses  with 
the  Moon.  Night  after  night,  when  the  fierce  fury 
of  the  merciless,  intolerable  Indian  sun  has  spent 
its  energy — there  are  days  in  the  hot  weather, 
when  the  very  last  ray  from  his  disappearing 

>  And  it  has  often  occurred  to  me  that  Western  theologians 
suffer  from  want  of  acquaintance  with  Sanskrit ,  for  nothing 
could  furnish  so  apt  an  illustration  of  an  indecomposable 
"  trinity  in  unity  "  as  a  compound  Sanskrit  word. 


Preface  337 

rim  seems  to  bore  like  a  red-hot  nail  into  your 
skull  and  drain  away  your  life  like  a  great 
blood  leech — when  at  last  the  enemy  has  gone, 
and  the  blue,  mild,  lustrous  Dark  with  its 
healing,  soothing,  balmy  peace  has  fallen  over 
the  fainting  world,  I  have  watched  the  inex- 
haustible Beauty  of  the  Moon:  and  then  it  is, 
that  there  seems  as  it  were  to  glide  into  the  soul, 
like  a  nurse  into  a  sick  room,  something,  some 
presence,  vast,  infinite,  and  feminine.  The  pale 
and  shadowy  Holda  passes  over  the  dusky  dome, 
with  the  stars  in  her  violet  hair,  or  is  it  rather  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  the  ancient  horned  Isis,  stretch- 
ing colossal  over  the  blue,  with  the  Moon  be- 
neath her  feet?  Mere  fancy,  says  the  reader: 
and  yet  I  do  not  know.  Something  there  seems 
to  be  in  common,  something  that  all  the  ancient 
nations  felt,  between  the  beauty  of  an  Eastern 
night  with  the  Moon  in  its  forehead,  and  the 
strange,  consolatory,  cosmic  magnetism  that  Wo- 
man and  her  mystic  Beauty  ^  exert  over  her  ever- 
lasting patient,  Man.  Take  away  her  sympathy, 
and  his  life  would  resemble  nothing  so  much  as 
the  thirsty  earth,  parching  iinder  an  Indian  Noon, 
for  ever  without  a  Night. 

For  the  proper  comprehension  of  this  story, 

»  The  TtoTvta  vxi^  of  Euripides  is  pure  Sanskrit:    patni 
naktd:  Lady  Night. 


338  Preface 

the  English  reader  ought  to  know,  that  just  as 
its  keynote — husband  is  a  good  wife's  god — is  the 
very  core  of  Hindoo  manners,  so  the  type  and 
model  of  all  devoted  wives,  the  Sati,  or  Constant 
Wife,  par  excellence,  is  Pd,rwati,  the  wife  of  the 
moon-crested  god.  He  and  she  together  are  the 
symbol  of  wedded  harmony,  so  close  and  indis- 
soluble, that  they  are  regarded,  under  one  aspect, 
as  having  but  a  single  body  between  them,  which 
they  share :  he  is  the  god,  whose  other,  or  left  half, 
is  his  wife:  and  poets  compare  their  relation  to 
that  obtaining  between  a  word  and  its  meaning. 
They  are  the  incarnation  of  bi-sexual  unity, 
Hermaphroditus,  the  ideal  type  of  sacred  indis- 
soluble marriage.  In  India,  marriage  is  still 
something  more  and  deeper  than  a  contract,  and 
has  not  therefore  yet  become  ridiculous.  In 
India,  the  gods  are  not  yet  pallid  spectral  ghosts, 
rationalistic  residua  of  neuter  gender,  but  the 
immortal  lovers  of  their  wives;  and  conjugal 
affection  is  what  it  ought  to  be,  typified  in 
heaven,  the  highest  pleasure  even  of  the  gods. 
They  carry  their  wives  about  in  their  arms,  sit 
them  on  their  knee,  and  are  inseparable  from 
them.  And  in  return,  their  wives  are  their  de- 
voted slaves.  Who,  says  the  Hindoo  proverb,  is 
the  best-loved  woman?  She  that  adores  her  husband 
as  a  god. 


Contents 

PAoa 

Prologue 343 

A  Lotus  of  the  World     . 

349 

I.  A  Denier  of  Deity 

351 

II,  A  Rajpoot  Marriage    . 

356 

III.  Water-Lily 

■  363 

IV.  A  God  and  a  Mortal    . 

366 

V.  Man's  Other  Half 

371 

VI.  Wild  Flowers       . 

374 

VII.  Out  of  a  Former  Birth 

■  376 

VIII.  The  Illusion  of  Beauty 

379 

IX.  The  Two  Kings  . 

■  381 

X.  A  Pariah  Dog      . 

384 

XI.  A  Red  Lotus 

386 

XII.  The  Wind  and  the  Leaves 

.  389 

XIII.  A  King  and  Queen 

391 

XIV.  Love  the  Fisherman    . 

395 

XV.  A  Woman's  Lord 

.  397 

XVI.  A  Gk)d  Abashed  . 

.  399 

XVII.  Nectar 

402 

XVIII.  The  Favour  of  Fortune 

,  406 

XIX.  The  Triumph  of  Beauty 

.  412 

Epilogue 

.  419 

Note. — ^The  legend  below  the  Vignette,  representing  the 
Goddess  of  Beauty,  is  a  beautiful  alliterative  compound 
alluding  to  her  origin  from  the  sea.  The  alliteration  evap- 
orates in  the  process  of  translation:  but  the  meaning  is: 
Hail  to  her  whose  being  is  the  essence  of  the  tumbling  ocean 
waves,  all  love,  emotion,  agitation  and  broken  curves/ 

339 


Prolo 


gue 


341 


PROLOGUE 

Invocation 

Adoration  to  the  Four  Eightfold  Divinities:  the 
Eight  Forms  of  the  Lord  of  Time:  the  Eight  Car- 
dinal Points  of  Space:  the  Eight  Sections  of  the 
Revelation  of  Panini:  and  the  Eight  Pairs  of 
Petals  of  the  Lotus  of  the  World} 

Far  away,  in  the  quarter  of  the  north,  there 
stands  a  mighty  mountain:  of  supereminence  so 
transcendent  that  even  the  Mother  of  the  World  2 
was  wilHng  to  call  him  father:  of  hue  so  pure 
that  even  the  snowy  swans  haunting  the  lake  of 
Manasa  blush  in  his  presence  as  if  ashamed  of 
their  own  inferiority :  of  size  so  gigantic  that  the 
rising  and  the  setting  sun  throws  his  shadow  on 
the  sky,  and  the  seven  Rishis  ^  in  their  daily 
revolution  turn  their  eyes  upwards  to  his  peak, 

'  The  Lord  of  Time  is  Shiwa.  Panini's  grammar  is  be- 
lieved to  have  been  revealed  to  him  by  the  deity.  The  Lotus 
of  the  world  is  the  goddess  of  beauty. 

'  Parwati  is  the  Daughter  of  Himalaya. 

»  The  Great  Bear. 

343 


344  In  the  Great  God's  Hair 

glowing  like  a  tongue  of  flame  at  sunset  or  at 
dawn.  And  there  on  his  northern  face  is  the 
home  of  the  Lord  of  Creatures  animate  or  in- 
animate. There  one  evening,  when  the  light  of 
day  was  flying  before  the  shadows  that  rose  up 
pursuing  it  out  of  the  abysses  of  the  valleys  along 
the  mountain  sides,  the  Daughter  of  the  Mountain 
was  playing  at  dice  with  her  lord.^  And  she  won 
from  him,  first  his  elephant  skin,  and  next  his 
rosary  of  skulls.  And  finally  she  said:  Now, 
then,  I  will  play  thee  for  that  which  thou  dost 
carry  on  thy  head.  And  Maheshwara  perceived 
her  intention.  But  he  answered :  Very  well.  So 
the  goddess  threw  the  dice,  and  won.  And  she 
exclaimed  in  delight:  Ha!  I  have  won.  Pay  me 
the  stake.  Then  Maheshwara  gave  her  his  moon. 
Thereupon  the  goddess  exclaimed  in  a  rage: 
Thou  art  a  deceiver.  Thou  dost  owe  me  Ganga, 
and  yet  offer  me  only  thy  moon. 2  What  do  I 
care  for  thy  moon?  Then  said  the  god:  Why, 
O  fair  one,  art  thou  angry?  Is  it  not  this  moon 
which  I  carry  on  my  head?  But  Uma  turned 
away  from  him  in  a  pet. 

Then  the  crafty  god,  who  had  only  teased  her 

«  As,  if  we  may  believe  Bhartrihari,  they  often  do,  for  the 
lives  of  men. 

*  Pdrwati  is  represented  in  Hindoo  literature  as  being  very 
jealous  of  Ganga  (the  river  Ganges)  because  Shiwa  caught  her, 
or  it,  upon  his  head. 


Prologue  345 

to  enjoy  the  beauty  or  her  anger,  preparing  to 
conciliate  her,  said:  Come,  the  game  is  over.  So 
now,  give  me  my  moon,  which  to  thee  is  worse 
than  useless,  since  thy  own  face  would  rob  it  of  its 
lustre,  being  itself  a  moon  always  at  full.  More- 
over, I  cannot  do  without  it.  Then  said  the 
goddess:  Why  canst  thou  not  do  without  it? 
And  Maheshwara  said :  Know,  that  were  it  with- 
drawn from  the  forehead  of  me  who  am  the 
world, ^  this  universe  would  cease  to  exist.  Then 
said  Uma :  How  can  that  be  ?  And  the  god  said : 
Of  all  created  things,  the  new  moon  is  the  fairest. 
And  therefore  it  is  that  I  wear  it  in  my  hair,  as  a 
symbol  of  that  power  which  is  the  pivot  of  all 
motion  animate  and  inanimate.  For  Beauty  is 
the  ruler  of  the  world,  and  without  it,  all  would 
remain  plunged  in  darkness,  and  motionless. 
And  there  is  a  story  connected  with  this.  Then 
the  goddess,  filled  with  curiosity,  exclaimed:  Tell 
me  the  story,  and  I  will  give  thee  thy  moon,  and 
forgive  thy  deceit.  And  Maheshwara  said:  Very 
well.  For  this  was  just  what  he  wished  her  to  do. 
Then  Uma  gave  him  his  moon,  and  he  set  it  in 
his  yellow  hair.  And  then  he  sat  down,  with  his 
back  against  a  precipice,  and  took  her  on  his  lap. 
And  she  laid  her  head  on  his  breast,  and  prepared 
to  listen  to  his  tale. 

»  Bhawa  means  both  Shiwa  and  the  world. 


34^  In  the  Great  God's  Hair 

But  just  as  the  god  was  about  to  begin,  he 
looked  down,  and  saw,  far  away  on  the  side  of 
the  hill  below  him,  a  man,  toiling  up  painfully 
over  the  cold  white  snow.  And  he  looked  in  the 
middle  of  that  vast  wilderness  like  an  ant,  lost 
among  the  blocks  of  salt  in  the  desert.  Then 
said  the  god  to  Uma:  Look!  there  is  a  man. 
What  can  he  be  doing  here,  where  no  mortal  ever 
comes?  It  were  better  to  wait  and  see.  Then 
the  goddess  exclaimed:  Thou  art  about  to  de- 
ceive me  again.  This  is  a  trick,  to  cheat  me  of 
my  story.  And  Maheshwara  said:  Nay,  thou 
shalt  certainly  hear  it  without  delay.  But  first 
let  us  discover,  what  is  the  object  of  this  poor 
mortal.  And  he  called  out  to  the  man:  Ho 
there!  who  art  thou?  and  why  art  thou  climbing 
up  alone  through  the  ice  and  snow? 

Then  hearing  the  voice,  which  echoed  like 
thunder  among  the  hills,  that  man  fell  face  down- 
wards upon  the  snow.  And  he  said:  O  Mahesh- 
wara, giver  of  boons,  for  surely  it  is  thou  that  I 
hear  and  no  other,  I  am  come  to  thee  as  a  sup- 
pliant, and  all  my  hope  is  in  thee.  Know,  that 
I  am  a  Kathaka,^  belonging  to  the  household  of 
the  King  of  Pataliputra,  a  city  of  the  plains. 
And  every  night  before  he  went  to  rest,  I  told 
him  a  story,  to  beguile  him  and  bring  sleep  to  his 

»  A  story  teller. 


Prologue  347 

eyes.  So  for  fourteen  years  I  told  him  stories, 
every  night  one.  And  then  at  last,  one  night, 
when  the  time  came  for  him  to  go  to  bed,  I  said 
to  him:  O  King,  my  stock  is  finished,  and  my 
fancy  exhausted,  and  now  I  cannot  tell  thee  any 
more.  Then  he  looked  upon  me  with  red,  angry 
eyes.  And  he  said:  O  dog,  how  is  this?  Shall 
I  not  sleep,  by  reason  of  the  poverty  of  thy 
faculty?  So  I  fell  on  my  face  before  him,  and 
said:  Let  the  King  show  me  cy  But  I  am 
empty,  and  the  fountain  of  my  invention  has  nm 
dry.  Then  he  said:  Know,  that  thou  art  no 
longer  my  Kathaka,  but  another  has  thy  place. 
And  know,  moreover,  that  if  in  three  months 
from  to-day,  for  I  will  be  merciful,  and  allow 
thee  time,  thou  dost  not  tell  me  a  story  more 
curious  than  anything  I  have  ever  heard,  I  will 
sever  thy  empty  head  from  thy  body,  first  tearing 
out  thy  useless  tongue,  and  uproot  thy  family 
and  all  thy  relations  from  the  land,  like  a  furious 
wind  among  the  trees  at  the  opening  of  the  rainy 
season.  And  immediately  he  sent  and  seized 
them,  and  holds  them  now  as  hostages  for  my 
return.  And  so,  seeing  no  other  resource,  I  have 
come  to  thy  feet,  travelling  night  and  day  with- 
out either  food  or  rest.  For  thou  knowest  all, 
past,  present,  and  to  come,  and  now  I  am  in  thy 
hands. 


348  In  the  Great  God's  Hair 

Then  said  Maheshwara  to  his  wife :  Thou  seest, 
we  did  well  to  wait;  and  now,  this  unlucky 
Kathaka  has  arrived  in  the  very  nick  of  time. 
So  let  him  listen  to  our  tale.  But  whether  for 
his  good  or  ill,  time  alone  can  show.  Then  he  took 
the  Kathaka,  and  put  him  up  into  his  hair.  And 
at  the  touch  of  his  hand,  that  Kathaka  was  de- 
livered in  a  moment  from  all  his  fatigue  and  ex- 
haustion, and  he  sat  in  the  shadow  of  that  matted 
hair,  illuminated  like  a  forest  of  great  trees  by  the 
diadem  of  the  deity,  to  overhear  the  tale. 

And  then  the  god  began.  And  as  he  spoke,  the 
G^ndharwas,  and  the  Kinnaras,  and  the  Siddhas 
and  Widyddharas  came  noiselessly  and  collected 
in  the  air,  and  listened  with  eager  ears. 


A  Lotus  of  the  World 


S49 


A   DENIER   OF   DEITY 

Long  ago,  in  the  very  beginning,  when  the 
world  and  all  its  creatures  and  even  the  gods 
themselves  were  young,  there  lived  in  a  certain 
country  a  King  who  died,  leaving  the  kingdom 
to  his  heir.  And  this  heir  was  only  eighteen 
years  old,  and  his  name  was  Ranga.^  And  though 
he  resembled  in  person  a  combination  of  the  gods 
of  love  and  war,  and  was  beloved  by  his  subjects, 
he  was  generous  and  hot-tempered  and  open- 
hearted  and  credulous  and  inexperienced  in  the 
ways  of  the  world:  and  he  fell  accordingly  an 
easy  prey  to  the  schemes  of  his  relations,  who 
plotted  against  him:  and  he  was  ousted  from  his 
throne  by  his  maternal  uncle,  who  got  the  better 
of  him  by  treachery  and  drove  him  out  of  the 
kingdom,  with  nothing  left  but  his  life. 

So  Ranga  fled,  and  wandering  from  place  to 
place  in  disguise,  took  refuge  in  a  neighbouring 
kingdom,    having   become   from   the   king   of   a 

I  "Dye,"  "colour,"  and  so,  "a  field  of  battle."  (Pro- 
novmce  to  rhyme  approximately  with  hunger.) 

351, , — 


352  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

country  a  wandering  Rajpoot,  heir  to  nothing  but 
his  sword,  and  starvation,  or  dependence  on 
others.  And  he  lost  his  temper,  and  flew  into  a 
rage  with  everything  in  the  three  worlds.  And 
he  cursed,  first  himself,  and  next  his  uncle,  and 
then  his  relations,  and  finally  even  the  gods. 
And  he  exclaimed:  O  gods,  I  cast  you  all  away 
and  disavow  you.  For  all  my  life  I  have  been 
pious,  and  cultivated  your  divinity,  and  honoured 
you  with  praises  and  offerings:  and  yet  by  way 
of  return,  you  have  paid  no  attention  to  me,  and 
allowed  me  to  fall  into  this  condition.  Now, 
therefore,  I  have  become  an  atheist  and  a  nds- 
tika}  And  in  his  rage  he  abused  the  gods,  calling 
them  all  by  their  names.  And  then  he  said: 
Henceforth  I  will  worship  none  of  you,  and  no- 
thing, save  only  Her  who  alone  deserves  adora- 
tion, the  Great  Goddess  of  Chance  and  Wealth 
and  Beauty  and  Fortune,  who  rules  over  the 
three  worlds.  And  he  broke  out  into  praises  of 
the  goddess,  then  and  there.  And  he  said:  O 
thou  who  resemblest  the  sea  that  produced  thee, 
O  KamaM,   O  Padma,   O  Shri,   O  Lakshmi,^   0 

>  An  infidel  or  sceptic:   one  who  "says  no"  or  denies. 

2  The  names  of  the  goddess  are  so  innumerable,  that  if 
accurately  followed  they  would  only  puzzle  the  English 
reader.  They  may,  however,  be  tabulated  generally  as 
referring  either  to  her  beauty,  her  inconstancy,  or  her  con- 
nection with  the  lotus.     I  have  therefore  chosen  for  her  name 


A  Denier  of  Deity  353 

Beauty  of  beauties  and  Lotus  of  lotuses,  show 
thy  miserable  worshipper  favour.  Thou  art  the 
very  essence  and  soul  of  caprice,  thou  art  com- 
pounded of  the  substance  of  waves  and  of  bubbles 
and  flashes  of  lightning,  rivers  that  flow  and  flames 
that  flicker,  shifting  shadows  and  woman's  wiles. 
Fair  and  fickle  and  false  and  fleeting,  thou  dost 
wander  and  rove  at  thy  own  sweet  will  from  one 
to  another,  abiding  never  anywhere  long.  Thy 
only  law  is  thy  wanton  fancy,  thy  whim  of  a 
moment  makes  one  man  rich  and  another  poor, 
one  a  king  and  another  a  beggar,  through  no 
merit  of  his  own  or  reason  of  thine.  Thou  art 
my  only  god,  for  thou  only  art  a  true  divinity,  and 
I  worship  the  sole  of  thy  foot.  O  thou  feminine 
incarnation  of  lustre  and  grace,  white  and  way- 
ward and  tremulous  and  treacherous  as  foam  of 
the  sea,  omnipotent,  bewildering,  frivolous,  in- 
constant, dissoluble  as  sand,  unsubstantial  as 
dreams,  I  worship  the  colour  in  thy  long,  deceit- 
ful, intoxicating  eyes,  and  the  undulating  swell  of 
thy  wave-like  limbs.  I  offer  myself  to  thee  as  a 
votary  and  a  victim;  do  as  thou  wilt  with  me. 
Raise  me  or  lower  me,  all  is  the  same  to  me,  for 
my  devotion  is  absolute :  thou  art  my  divinity  and 
thy  pleasure  is  my  fate. 

that  of  Water-Lily:  the  word  of  all  others  that  best  conveys 
her  general  attributes  to  an  English  ear. 


354  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

And  as  he  went  on,  it  so  happened,  by  the  de- 
cree of  destiny,  that  Water-lily  heard  him. 
And  without  his  knowledge,  she  came  near  him, 
to  Hsten  to  what  he  said  And  she  was  much 
pleased  by  his  praises,  all  the  more  that  she  was 
new  to  them,  having  herself  but  lately  risen  from 
the  sea.  And  she  looked  at  him  out  of  the  comer 
of  her  long  lotus  eyes,  and  saw  that  he  was  very 
young,  and  very  handsome;  and  she  took  a 
sudden  fancy  to  him,  and  pitied  him.  So  when 
he  had  finished,  she  cast  at  him  a  glance  of 
approval,  smiling  with  honied  lips  like  a  coquette  ^ 
whose  vanity  is  flattered,  and  she  said:  Come,  I 
will  prove  to  this  good-looking  young  Rajpoot 
that  he  was  not  deceived,  when  he  chose  my  di- 
vinity for  adoration  as  more  worthy  of  worship 
than  that  of  any  other  of  the  gods. 

So  that  very  night,  to  do  him  a  service,  she  put 
a  strange  thought  into  his  head.  And  Ranga  said 
to  himself:  Now  I  have  become  a  worshipper  of 
Fortune,  and  a  gambler,  and  now  I  must  put  her 
to  the  proof,  and  see  what  she  will  do  for  me. 
For  even  she  can  do  nothing  for  those  who  sit 
still,  and  give  her  no  opportunity  of  taking  their 
part.  So  he  went  out  and  wandered  up  and  down 
in  the  streets  of  the  city,  looking  for  anything  that 

»  Sanskrit  is,  I  think,  the  only  other  language  that  pos- 
sesses an  exact  equivalent  for  the  French. 


A  Denier  of  Deity  355 

chance  might  throw  in  his  way.  And  as  he  passed 
by  the  palace  of  the  King,  he  looked  up,  and  saw 
at  the  top  of  a  tower  a  room  with  eight  round 
windows,  one  at  each  point  of  the  sky.  And  as 
he  stood  looking  at  it,  a  man  of  the  town  said  to 
him:  Rajpoot,  what  are  you  about?  Do  you  not 
know  that  it  is  forbidden  even  to  look  at  the  place 
where  the  King  keeps  his  biggest  pearl.  Then 
Ranga  said  to  himself:  I  wonder  what  sort  of  a 
pearl  that  may  be,  of  which  it  is  not  permitted 
even  to  look  at  the  case  And  he  went  away 
filled  with  curiosity;  and  as  he  went.  Water- 
lily  blew  it  into  a  flame,  till  he  felt  a  burning 
desire  to  satisfy  his  wish.  And  finally  he  said: 
I  will  go  this  very  night,  and  climb  up,  somehow 
or  other,  and  see  with  my  own  eyes  this  wonderful 
pearl. 

So  he  provided  himself  with  a  bow  and  arrow, 
and  a  very  long  string,  and  a  coil  of  rope.  And 
taking  all  these  with  him,  he  went  in  the  middle 
of  the  night,  and  hid  himself  in  the  street  in  the 
shadow.  For  the  moonlight  lit  up  the  palace 
tower,  and  buried  the  other  side  of  the  street  in 
the  blackness  of  night.  And  there  he  remained, 
waiting,  till  he  saw  the  watch  come  by  on  its 
round.  Then  as  soon  as  it  had  passed,  he  came 
out,  and  quickly  shot  the  arrow,  to  which  he  had 
tied  the  end  of  the  string,  over  the  comer  of  the 


35^  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

parapet  of  the  tower.  And  the  arrow  fell  back 
to  the  ground,  and  Ranga  took  the  string,  and 
tied  it  to  the  rope,  and  drew  it  up  rapidly,  till  all 
the  string  came  to  an  end,  and  he  held  in  his 
hands  the  two  ends  of  the  rope.  And  then  very 
quickly  he  climbed  up  with  hands  and  feet  like  a 
monkey,  and  reached  the  window,  and  got  in 
through  it,  leaving  the  rope  hanging  down. 

II 

A   RAJPOOT   MARRIAGE 

And  then  he  stepped  into  the  room,  and 
started,  and  stood  amazed.  For  just  before  him 
there  lay  sleeping  on  a  jewelled  couch  a  young 
woman,  looking  like  a  jasmine  flower  on  a  bed 
of  its  own  leaves.  For  the  moon  bathed  her  in 
his  light,  which  clung  to  her  limbs  as  if  it  were  in 
love  with  them:  and  she  resembled  a  feminine 
incarnation  of  the  passion  of  love  fallen  into  a 
swoon  of  fatigue  and  pallor  after  having  con- 
quered the  world.  And  the  long  lashes  of  her 
shut  eyes  lay  on  her  cheek  like  shadows  as  far  as 
her  mouth,  which  smiled  as  she  slept:  while  the 
breeze  lifted  the  fringe  of  the  silk  robe  that 
covered  her  neck,  and  laid  bare  the  beauty  of  her 
throat,  just  where  it  met  with  the  curve  of  her 
bosom,  that  rose  and  fell  gently  as  she  breathed. 


A  Rajpoot  Marriage  357 

And  one  hand  was  under  her  liead,  and  the  other 
lay,  Hke  an  open  liower,  hanging  over  the  edge  of 
the  bed,  from  a  wrist  Hke  a  }'oung  reed's  stalk. 

And  as  he  stood  motionless,  like  a  target  with 
the  arrow  of  Lo\-e  in  his  heart,  she  woke  up.  For 
Water-lily  entered  her  dream  and  showed  her 
a  picture,  and  said  to  her:  Wake,  for  I  have 
brought  thee  a  husband  more  beautiful  than 
Kama  himself.  And  when  she  opened  her  eyes 
and  looked:  lo!  there  he  w^as  standing  before  her. 
And  instantly  she  started  up,  and  stood  gazing  at 
him  in  astonishment.  For  he  answered  so  ex- 
actly to  her  dream  that  she  could  not  believe  her 
eyes,  and  doubted  whether  she  had  not  only 
dreamed  that  she  woke,  and  was  still  really 
asleep.  And  then  after  a  while,  she  said:  Art 
thou  a  reality,  or  only  a  thing  in  my  dream?  And 
he  said :  O  sleeping  beauty,  I  am  a  reality :  but  I 
wish  it  were  not  so :  for  I  would  gladly  forfeit  my 
life  to  be  only  a  thing  in  thy  dreams.  Then  she 
said :  Who  in  the  world  art  thou,  and  how  in  the 
world  hast  thou  climbed  into  my  room,  into 
which  none  ever  come  but  my  female  attendants 
and  the  birds  of  the  air?  And  he  said:  O  waking 
beauty,  I  am  Ranga,  the  King  of  Awanti,  whom 
his  relations  have  driven  from  his  kingdom.  But 
what  do  I  care :  for  had  it  been  otherwise,  I 
should  never  have  set  eyes  u]X)n  thee. 


358  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

But  when  she  heard  his  name,  she  started,  and 
could  not  beHeve  her  own  ears.  And  she  said: 
Tell  me  thy  name  over  again.  Then  he  did  so. 
And  she  said:  Surely  I  must  still  be  dreaming. 
Or  art  thou  really  sent  by  the  deity  ?  Tell  me  thy 
story  from  the  beginning.  And  so  he  did.  And 
she  watched  him  as  he  spoke,  with  eyes  that  she 
could  not  take  off  him.  For  Water-lily  be- 
wildered her  with  his  beauty,  and  poured  in- 
fatuation into  his  voice. 

And  when  he  had  finished,  she  said  to  him:  O 
thou  son  of  a  King,  beyond  a  doubt  the  deity  must 
have  brought  thee,  for  there  is  in  this  matter  a 
thing  wholly  unknown  to  thee,  so  strange,  that  it 
cannot  have  come  about  of  itself.  But  now,  lis- 
ten, for  I  have  a  proposal  to  make  to  thee.  Know, 
that  the  King  my  father  wishes  to  give  me  as  a 
bride  to  a  neighbouring  King  for  the  sake  of  a 
political  alliance.  And  rather  than  be  a  bride  of 
that  King,  I  had  intended  to  cast  myself  down 
from  this  window  into  the  street,  for  I  cannot  en- 
dure the  sight  of  him  even  in  a  picture.  And  now 
thou  hast  appeared,  as  if  on  purpose,  to  provide 
me  with  a  means  of  escape.  Thou  art  poor  and 
without  a  kingdom,  which  it  may  be  thou  wilt 
never  regain.  But  thou  art  my  equal  in  caste,  and 
unless  the  Creator  has  made  thy  exterior  a  lie, 
my  equal  also  in  spirit  and  soul.     Wilt  thou  have 


A  Rajpoot  Marriage  359 

me  for  a  wife,  as  I  am  willing  to  choose  thee  for  a 
husband,  and  carry  me  down  by  the  rope  by 
which  thou  didst  bring  thyself  up?  For  I  will 
choose  thee  for  my  husband,  of  my  own  free  will,^ 
and  share  all  thy  poverty  and  evil  fortune  and 
make  it  a  blessing  to  thee.  Swear  to  me  only  that 
thou  wilt  deal  with  me  loyally  and  share  with  me, 
as  with  thy  other  self,  all  thy  troubles  and  all  thy 
joys  in  this  world  and  the  next,  and  I  will  place 
myself  as  a  deposit  in  thy  hands.  And  it  may  be 
that  I  will  change  all  thy  evil  fortune  to  good: 
and  if  not,  I  will  help  thee  to  endure  it  with 
patience.  And  now,  say:  is  the  bargain  to  thy 
mind?  And  think  ere  thou  givest  an  answer :  for 
I  will  not  be  bought  by  thee  with  anything  less 
than  thy  soul. 

And  when  she  had  spoken,  she  looked  straight 
at  him,  with  beautiful  eyes,  in  which  there  was 
neither  frivolity  nor  fear.  And  Ranga  looked 
back  at  her,  and  his  heart  swelled  in  his  breast: 
for  she  touched  it  not  only  by  her  beauty  but  by 
the  strength  of  her  soul.  And  he  laughed  for  joy, 
and  said:  Hear  me,  ye  guardians  of  the  quarters 
of  heaven!  O  thou  fair  woman,  thy  loveliness 
is  wonderful,  and  yet  it  is  the  least  part  of  thy 

>  This  is  the  old  swayamwara,  a  recognised  privilege  of 
kings'  daughters.  The  reader  must  not  look  at  it  with  Eng- 
lish eyes.  An  unceremonious  marriage  is  a  constant  feature 
in  old  Hindoo  tales:   and  it  is  none  the  less  a  marriage. 


360  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

excellence.  Now  thou  art  worthy  of  one  better 
than  I  am.  And  yet,  if  thou  wilt  give  thyself  to 
me  for  a  wife,  I  will  be  thy  lord  and  thy  protector 
in  this  life  and  the  next,  and  thou  shalt  be  my 
divinity  in  human  form.  And  I  will  want  food 
and  clothing  before  thou  shalt  want  sweetmeats 
and  jewels.  And  he  stooped  down  and  touched 
her  feet,  and  put  his  hand  on  his  head :  and  then 
stood  and  looked  at  her  with  a  smile.  And  she 
looked  at  him  with  affection,  and  said :  Thou  art 
the  man  whom  I  have  desired  to  have  for  a 
husband,  and  now  I  see  that  my  dream  was  a  true 
one.     And  now  I  am  thy  wife,  and  thy  servant. 

Then  he  said :  Dear  wife,  now  we  must  go  down, 
and  that  quickly,  before  we  are  discovered.  And 
yet,  though  thou  art  light  as  a  bamboo  leaf,  this  is 
a  dangerous  thing.  Hast  thou  the  courage  to 
make  the  attempt?  Then  she  said:  What  is 
there  to  fear?  For  if  we  fall,  we  fall  together, 
and  meet  death  at  the  same  instant.  But  have 
no  fear:  for  I  will  cling  to  thy  neck  with  my 
arms.  Then  Ranga  laughed.  And  he  said: 
Nay,  I  will  not  risk  my  pearl  on  the  strength  of  thy 
soft  and  slender  arms.  Then  he  took  from  the 
bed  a  silk  cover,  and  twisted  it  into  a  rope.  And 
he  bound  it  tightly  round  her  waist,  and  then 
tied  it  firmly  to  his  own.  And  then  he  drew  her 
to  the  window,  and  looked  down.     And  at  that 


A  Rajpoot  Marriage  361 

moment  he  saw  the  watch,  going  its  round  a 
second  time.  So  when  it  had  passed,  he  said: 
Now  is  our  opportunity.  But  she  said :  Wait :  let 
me  bring  -with  me  all  the  wealth  that  I  have,  for 
at  present  thou  art  poor.  And  she  made  a  bundle 
of  clothes,  and  put  into  it  all  her  jewels:  and 
flung  it  down  into  the  street.  And  then  he  said : 
Art  thou  afraid  ?  And  she  said :  I  am  afraid,  but 
only  for  thee.  Then  he  said:  Shut  thy  eyes,  and 
clasp  me  round  the  neck,  and  hold.  So  she  did. 
And  then  Ranga  wove  the  rope  round  his  legs, 
and  grasped  it  in  his  hands  with  a  grip  like  that 
of  death,  and  let  himself  slowly  down  into  the 
street.  So  he  carried  her  down  to  the  ground, 
while  the  sweat  stood  in  great  drops  upon  his 
brow. 

And  when  they  touched  the  earth,  she  said: 
Thou  art  as  strong  as  thou  art  brave,  and  the 
deity  has  sent  me  a  man.  But  Ranga  clasped 
her  in  his  arms,  and  kissed  her.  And  he  said: 
Now  I  may  kiss  thee,  for  we  have  faced  death 
together,  and  I  have  made  thee  my  own.  But 
here  we  must  not  stay  even  for  a  moment.  And 
he  picked  up  the  bundle,  and  went  away  quickly, 
carrying  her  in  his  arms,  and  counting  the  whole 
world  as  a  straw.  And  he  said  to  her:  Where 
shall  we  go,  for  in  the  city  they  would  discover 
thee?    Then  she  said:  Close  to  this  city  there  is 


362  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

another,  which  is  empty  and  deserted,  and  in- 
habited only  by  parrots  and  monkeys.  Let  us 
go  there,  and  afterwards  consider  what  is  to  be 
done.     And  I  will  show  thee  the  way. 

So  he  carried  her  away  to  that  empty  city, 
never  once  setting  her  down,  for  the  joy  he  had 
in  holding  her  in  his  arms.  And  when  at  last 
they  reached  it,  he  stopped  before  a  courtyard, 
and  went  in,  and  saw  in  it  a  deserted  cow-house, 
full  of  hay  and  straw.  And  he  put  her  down,  and 
untied  the  knots,  and  set  her  free.  And  then  he 
said :  Alas !  that  I  should  take  thee  from  a  palace, 
to  bring  thee  to  such  a  ruined  shed  as  this.  And 
she  said:  Where  the  husband  is,  there  is  the 
heaven  of  the  wife.  And  he  said  again:  Alas! 
I  am  an  exile  and  a  wanderer,  and  I  have  taken 
thee  from  thy  relations  and  thy  home.  And  she 
said :  Is  not  the  wife  the  child  of  her  husband,  and 
the  husband  the  father  and  mother  of  his  wife? 
And  what  home  does  she  need  who  has  taken 
refuge  in  the  heart  of  her  lord?  ^  Then  he  put 
his  left  arm  round  her,  and  took  her  left  hand  in 
his  right,  and  kissed  it.  And  he  said:  What  is 
thy  name?  And  she  said:  I  am  called  Wana- 
wallari.2  Then  he  said :  Thou  art  well  named, 
and  now  I  will  be  the  tree  of  thy  life.     Come,  and 

>  So,  in  the  Katha  Sarit  Sdgara,  speaks  Rupashikha. 
2  "Wood-creeper":    "forest-flower."     (Pronounce  wow- as 
nun,  and  -wall-  as  dull.) 


Water-Lily  363 

I  will  find  thee  a  room  in  this  abandoned  palace, 
that  shall  serve  thee  for  a  bridal  chamber,  and  I 
will  make  thee  a  nuptial  couch  of  hay  and  straw. 
For  this  is  our  wedding  night,  and  see,  yonder  is 
the  polar  star.^ 

Ill 

WATER-LILY 

But  in  the  meanwhile,  the  gods  2  were  aware  of 
what  had  occurred.  For  they  had  heard  the 
abuse  that  Ranga  showered  upon  them  in  his  de- 
spair. And  when  they  saw  that  by  the  assistance 
of  WATER-LiL"i  he  had  obtained  Wanawallari  for 
his  wife,  they  were  very  angry  both  with  the  god- 
dess and  with  him.  And  they  met  in  Indra's 
hall,  to  discuss  the  matter  and  determine  what 
was  to  be  done.  But  I  was  not  there,  for  I  bore 
no  grudge  against  Ranga,  knowing  his  youth  and 
the  provocation  which  had  occasioned  his  out- 
burst, and  forgiving  it.  And  Narayana  ^  also  was 
absent,  for  so  far  from  being  angry  with  Ranga, 
he  was  pleased  with  him  for  heaping  praises  on 

>  The  Pole  Star  is  the  symbol  of  marriage,  and  the  emblem 
of  a  bride. 

2  When  the  gods  are  spoken  of  collectively  they  are  gener- 
ally understood  not  to  include  the  great  gods,  Brahma, 
Wishnu,  and  Shiwa,  each  of  whom  has  a  claim  to  be  con- 
sidered the  greatest. 

3  Wishnu,  of  whom  Water-Lily  is  the  wife 


3^4  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

his  wife,  who  is  a  part  of  himself,  as  thou  art  of 
me.^  So  having  met,  they  said  indignantly  to 
one  another :  This  alone  would  be  scandalous  and 
intolerable,  that  a  mortal  should  insolently  load 
us  with  abuse  for  not  being  at  his  beck  and  call 
as  if  we  were  nothing  but  the  slaves  of  our  wor- 
shippers. But  worse  than  all,  here  has  Water- 
lily  actually  rewarded  the  rascal  by  giving  him 
the  most  beautiful  woman  in  the  three  worlds  for 
a  wife:  so  that  instead  of  being  pun  shed  for  his 
bad  behaviour,  he  has  actually  received  a  prize. 
And  if  this  continues,  we  are  wholly  undone,  and 
the  established  constitution  of  the  universe  will 
be  destroyed.  For  it  all  depends  on  praise,  wor- 
ship and  sacrifice  2 :  but  if  men  get  our  favours 
without  these,  who  will  be  at  the  pains  of  pro- 
pitiating us  at  all?  Thus  though  the  conduct  of 
this  mortal  is  bad,  that  of  Water-lily  is  in- 
finitely worse.  For  she  has  taken  the  part  of  a 
mortal,  siding  against  the  gods,  merely  because 
she  was  caught  by  the  cunning  fellow's  flattery. 

Then  Water-lily  laughed,  looking  at  them  all 
askance  out  of  the  corner  of  her  long  eyes  that 
reached    nearly    to    her    ears.     And    she    said: 

>  Maheshwara  is  speaking  to  his  wife. 

2  Plato's  idea,  that  the  relation  between  gods  and  men  is 
one  of  commercial  reciprocity  (kixicopiKrj)  is  precisely  that  of 
the  Hindoos,  who  lay  it  down  in  a  hundred  places  as  the 
essence  of  the  stithi,  or  established  constitution  of  things. 


Water-Lily  365 

Surely  I  have  done  little  worthy  of  blame,  if  I 
have  rewarded  my  worshipper  for  his  praises,  as 
all  you  ought  long  ago  to  have  done.  For  if  we 
pay  no  attention  to  them,  these  mortals  will 
leave  us  and  laugh  at  us,  and  then  we  shall  perish 
for  want  of  our  proper  sustenance.  And  so  it  is 
not  I,  but  rather  you  yourselves,  that  are  to  blame 
for  leaving  him  alone.  Moreover,  after  all,  he 
is  quite  right  in  considering  my  power  and 
divinity  as  stronger  than  all  others,  for  so  in  fact 
it  is. 

But  hearng  her  words,  the  gods  were  enraged, 
and  exclaimed:  Fie!  fie!  And  they  determined 
to  show  her  that  she  was  mistaken,  and  punish 
her  protege :  and  they  arranged  that  Indra  should 
descend  to  the  earth,  and  find  him,  and  make  an 
example  of  him.  But  that  crafty  Water-lily 
said  to  herself:  Now  will  I  show  all  these  foolish 
gods,  and  especially  Indra,  that  beauty  and 
fortune  are  enemies  hard  even  for  gods  to  over- 
come. And  .she  played  the  hypocrite,  and  said 
to  them,  with  an  illusive  smile  on  her  beautiful 
lips:  When  a  fault  has  been  committed,  it  is  for 
the  guilty  person  to  make  reparation.  Let  Indra 
go  down :  but  I  will  myself  help  to  bring  the  sinner 
to  justice  and  undo  my  own  mischief,  by  causing 
the  King  to  discover  the  whereabouts  of  Ranga 
and  his  wife. 


366  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

Then  the  gods  were  pleased,  for  she  threw  them 
all  off  their  guard  by  her  apparent  submission. 
And  they  said :  She  is  very  young,  and  moreover, 
she  is  a  woman,  and  doubtless  she  was  caught  by 
this  rascal's  beauty  of  person,  and  his  flattery: 
but  now  she  has  changed  her  mind,  which  is 
variable  as  the  sea  out  of  which  she  arose.  So 
we  must  not  be  angry  with  her. 

IV 

A    GOD    AND    A    MORTAL 

And  in  the  morning,  those  two  lovers  rose  from 
their  bed  of  hay  and  straw,  which  had  been  to 
them  by  the  favour  of  the  goddess  a  nuptial 
couch  sweeter  than  amrita  and  softer  than  the 
down  of  royal  swans.  And  then,  by  the  instiga- 
tion of  the  goddess,  Wanawallari  said  to  her 
husband:  Dear  husband,  though  we  can  sleep, 
we  cannot  live  upon  hay  and  straw,  and  now  thou 
wilt  have  to  leave  me  for  a  little.  And  she  gave 
him  a  bracelet,  made  of  rubies  as  large  as  pigeons' 
eggs,  and  said:  Take  this,  and  sell  it  in  the  city, 
and  with  the  money  buy  provisions  for  us:  and 
bring  back  with  thee  a  wind,^  and  above  all,  come 
back  as  quickly  as  possible,  for  I  cannot  bear  thee 
to  be  out  of  my  sight.  But  there  will  be  no 
»  A  species  of  lute. 


A  God  and  a  Mortal  367 

danger,  for  no  one  saw  thee  carry  mc  off.  And 
meanwhile  I  will  wait  for  thee  in  this  empty 
palace,  with  my  e\'es  fixed  on  the  road  by  which 
thou  art  to  return. 

Then  Ranga  said :  I  am  adverse  to  leaving  thee, 
even  for  an  instant.  And  yet,  unless  we  could 
become  cows  and  eat  hay,  I  must  find  food  for 
thee,  and  I  cannot  take  thee  with  me:  so  there  is 
no  help  for  it.  And  he  took  the  bracelet  and  went 
away  quickly,  saying  to  her:  I  will  be  with  thee 
almost  before  I  have  gone  away. 

And  as  soon  as  he  was  gone,  Wanaw^allari  said 
to  herself :  Now  will  I  adorn  myself  like  a  city  to 
welcome  the  return  of  its  so\'ran  lord  after  a  long 
absence.  And  she  chose  from  her  bundle  the  best 
of  all  that  it  contained,  and  braided  her  hair  very 
carefully,  bathing  in  a  pool  in  the  court,  and  using 
its  w-ater  for  a  mirror.  And  when  she  had  finished, 
she  was  pleased  with  her  own  appearance ;  and 
she  said  to  herself:  fie  shall  rejoice  w^hen  he  sees 
me  again,  and  I  will  watch  the  j)leasure  on  his  face. 
And  yet  she  did  not  know,  that  Water-lily  was 
prompting  her  to  adorn  herself,  to  fascinate  not 
her  husband,  but  somebody  else.  So  when  she 
was  dressed,  she  went  out  and  sat  in  the  shade  of 
a  great  banyan  tree  that  grew  over  a  well  near  the 
pool,  and  fixed  her  eyes  on  the  ])ath  by  which 
Ranga  was  to  appear. 


368  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

And  at  that  moment,  just  when,  by  the  con 
trivance  of  the  crafty  Water-lily,  Ranga  wa^ 
away,  and  Wanawallari  was  sitting  under  the 
tree,  alone  and  adorned,  Indra  descended  to  the 
earth,  and  in  the  disguise  of  an  old  Brahman,  came 
along  the  road,  towards  the  empty  palace,  in 
which  he  knew  that  those  lovers  had  passed  the 
night.  And  Wanawallari  looked  and  saw  him. 
And  saying  to  herself:  This  is  only  an  old  Brah- 
man, and  I  have  nothing  to  fear:  she  sat  still  by 
the  well,  watching  him  approach.  So  the  dis- 
guised Indra  drew  near  her.  And  when  he  came 
up,  he  looked  at  her,  as  she  sat  still  under  the 
tree.  And  he  was  thunderstruck,  as  if  by  one  of 
his  own  bolts,  by  her  beauty,  not  knowing  that 
Water-lily  was  pouring  into  it  her  own  fascina- 
tion to  bewilder  him,  and  employing  as  an  in- 
strument the  charms  of  Wanawallari.  For  her 
lovely  limbs  were  half  revealed  and  half  con- 
cealed by  the  folds  of  her  robe  of  silver  muslin,  as 
the  moonlit  mist  that  rises  from  the  spray  at 
Gangotri  both  hides  and  shows  the  rocks  over 
which  the  water  flows :  and  she  had  bare  feet  and 
heavy  golden  anklets,  and  great  gold  bangles  that 
made  her  little  hands  look  smaller,  and  jewelled 
armlets  that  encircled  her  arms  just  above  the 
elbow,  making  those  round  arms  seem  even 
rounder  than  before :  and  a  string  of  great  pearls 


A  God  and  a  Mortal  369 

round  her  neck,  and  one  great  grass-green  '  em- 
erald in  her  jet-black  hair.  And  as  he  looked  at 
her,  the  clearness  of  his  mind  was  disturbed  and 
agitated  by  emotion ;  for  she  struck  him  hard,  as 
she  looked  at  him  with  calm  eyes.  And  he  said 
to  himself:  Why,  this  mortal  woman  would  laugh 
at  every  Apsaras  in  my  court:  and  if' Water- 
lily  has  seen  her,  I  cannot  understand  how  she 
has  not  died  of  en\'y.  And  he  said  to  Wana- 
wallari :  O  lady  of  the  lovely  eyes,  thou  art  surely 
the  wife  of  Ranga,  whom  I  have  come  to  see? 

Then  Wanawallari  said :  Sir,  it  is  true  that  I  am 
his  wife,  though  I  cannot  tell  how  it  could  be 
known  to  thee  so  soon.  For  yesterday  I  was  no 
wife,  but  an  unhappy  maiden,  and  last  night  was 
my  wedding  night.  Then  said  Indra:  O  fragile 
one,  all  things  can  be  known,  by  the  power  of 
asceticism  and  years.  And  it  is  not  hard  to  see 
that  thou  art  the  bride  of  a  day.  For  thy  lotus 
eyes  are  full  of  new  happiness,  and  peaceful,  and 
not,  like  those  of  an  unmarried  maiden,  agitated 
and  alarmed. 

Then  said  Wanawallari :  Brahman,  if  thou  art 
come  to  see  my  husband,  know,  that  he  is  away: 
and  I  am  awaiting  his  return.  And  it  does  not 
become  a  woman  of  good  family  to  talk  to  strange 

'  This  epithet  (shashpashydma)  would  a];pear  to  mean  that 
shadowy  hue  which  is  seen  in  the  hollows  of  grass  when  lit  by 
the  sun. 


2)7o  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

men.  I  pray  thee,  therefore,  to  leave  me  and 
come  back  again  another  time.  Then  said  Indra : 
Moon-faced  lady,  old  age  is  a  condition  hard  to 
bear,  and  full  of  evils,  and  it  would  be  altogether 
imendurable,  but  for  its  privileges:  of  which  one 
is,  that  an  old  man  may  converse  without  scandal 
even  with  the  young  wife  of  another  man.  For 
when  the  fire  is  extinct,  what  has  the  fuel  to  fear? 
And  to  judge  by  thy  appearance,  I  am  old  enough 
to  be  thy  father,  were  thy  years  even  double 
what  they  are.  Since,  therefore,  I  have  been  so 
highly  favoured  by  fortune  ^  as  to  find  thee  in- 
stead of  thy  husband,  let  me  seize  my  opportunity, 
and  ask  thee  in  his  absence,  what  evil  spirit 
prompted  thee  to  choose  for  thy  husband  one 
known  to  be  a  scomer  of  the  gods,  and  there- 
fore likely  to  feel  their  vengeance,  and  come  to 
a  sudden  and  disgraceful  end.  For  they  rarely 
prosper,  whom  the  gods  have  determined  to  pun- 
ish. Therefore,  would  it  not  be  thy  better  course 
to  repent  while  there  is  time,  and  this  opportunity 
is  afforded  thee  by  his  absence,  and  leave  him  to 
his  fate,  and  save  thyself,  and  sever  thy  con- 
nection with  a  man  doomed  and  in  danger  alike 
from  the  gods  above,  and  the  father  from  whom 
he  has  stolen  thee  below? 

«  As  in  fact  he  had  been,  but  otherwise  than  as  he  thought. 


Man's  Other  Half  371 


MAN  S    OTHER    HALF 

And  as  Wanawallari  listened  to  his  words,  she 
discerned  instinctively  danger  to  her  husband 
from  that  old  Brahman.  And  she  said  to  herself : 
Who  is  this  that  knows  all  about  us  already?  Is 
he  a  spy  of  my  father's,  who  knows  me  by  sight? 
Or  can  he  be  some  god  in  disguise,  come  down  to 
injure  my  husband,  or  corrupt  me  for  my  beauty? 
For  such  things  have  often  happened  before. 
And  she  looked  at  him  coldly,  and  said:  Brah- 
man, thou  art  an  evil  counsellor;  and  I  should 
indeed  be  more  worthless  than  stubble,  should  I 
abandon  my  husband,  for  whom  I  have  only  just 
abandoned  my  parents.  Nor  can  I  imagine,  by 
what  means  all  should  be  known  to  thee,  unless 
thou  art  a  god.  But  wert  thou  the  very  god 
whom,  if  thou  speakest  the  truth,  my  husband  has 
offended,  I  would  tell  thee  that  my  husband  did 
well  to  scorn  one  who  practises  the  very  thing  that 
he  condemns  in  my  husband,  in  seeking  to  seduce 
the  wife  of  another  from  her  religion.  Dost  thou 
not  know  that  to  a  true  wife  her  husband  is  a 
god?  And  if  it  were  the  case,  as  thou  sayest, 
that  my  husband  had  abandoned  his  gods,  would 
it  make  the  case  any  better  if  I  should  forsake 
him  who  is  mine? 


372  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

Then  said  Indra:  O  lady,  luckless  and  lovelorn, 
art  thou,  alas!  already  so  far  corrupted  by  asso- 
ciating with  a  scomer  of  the  gods  as  to  side  with 
him  against  them?  Know,  that  he  shares  the 
guilt  of  a  crime  who  approves  of  the  criminal  when 
it  is  done:  and  thou  dost  as  it  were  thyself  offer 
insult  to  the  deity  by  defending  its  offender. 

Then  said  Wanawallari:  I  know  no  deity  but 
my  husband,  and  follow  him  without  question 
or  reason,  as  night  follows  day.  And  so  far  from 
being  wrong,  this  is  the  duty  of  a  woman,  for 
it  is  dharma,^  established  from  the  very  begin- 
ning, and  having  its  roots  in  her  nature  and  his. 
For  once  there  was  a  time,  when  there  were 
neither  men  nor  women,  but  the  universe  existed 
alone.  And  then  one  day,  when  the  Creator  was 
meditating  with  a  view  to  further  creation  he  said 
to  himself:  Something  is  wanting  to  complete 
this  Creation  which  I  have  created.  It  is  blind, 
and  unconscious  of  its  own  curious  beauty  and  ex- 
cellence. Thereupon  he  created  a  man.  And  in- 
stantly the  Creation  became  an  object  of  wonder 
and  beauty,  being  reflected  like  a  picture  in  the 
mirror  of  the  mind  of  the  man.  Then  the  man 
roamed  alone  in  the  world,  wondering  at  the 
flowers  and  the  trees  and  the  animals,  and  at 
last  he  came  to  a  pool.  And  he  looked  in,  and 
»  Dharma  means  law,  duty,  custom  and  religion  combined. 


Man's  Other  Half  373 

saw  himself.  Then  full  of  astonishment,  he  ex- 
claimed: This  is  the  most  beautiful  creature  of 
all.  And  he  hunted  incessantly  through  the 
whole  world  to  find  it,  not  knowing  that  he  was 
looking  for  himself.  But  when  he  found  that  in 
spite  of  all  his  endeavours  he  could  never  do 
more  than  see  it  on  the  surface  of  pools,  he  be- 
came sad,  and  ceased  to  care  about  anything. 
Then  the  Creator,  perceiving  it,  said  to  himself: 
Ha!  this  is  a  difficulty  which  I  never  foresaw, 
arising  naturally  from  the  beauty  of  my  work. 
But  now,  what  is  to  be  done?  For  here  is  this 
man,  whom  I  made  to  be  a  mirror  for  my  world, 
snared  in  the  mirror  of  his  own  beauty.  So  I 
must  somehow  or  other  cure  this  evil.  But  I 
cannot  make  another  man,  for  then  there  would 
be  two  centres  to  the  circle  of  the  universe. 
Neither  can  I  add  anything  to  the  circumference 
of  Nature,  for  it  is  perfect  in  itself.  There  is 
necessary,  therefore,  some  third  thing:  not  real, 
for  then  it  would  disturb  the  balance  of  the  tmi- 
verse;  nor  unreal,  for  then  it  would  be  nothing: 
but  poised  on  the  border  between  reality  and 
non-entity.  So  he  collected  the  reflections  on 
the  surface  of  the  pools,  and  made  of  them  a 
woman.  But  she,  as  soon  as  she  was  made,  be- 
gan to  cry.  And  she  said:  Alas!  alas!  I  am,  and 
I  am  not.     Then  said  the  Creator:  Thou  foolish 


374  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

intermediate  creature,  thou  art  a  non-eiitity, 
only  when  thou  standest  alone.  But  when  thou 
art  united  to  the  man,  thou  art  real  in  participa- 
tion with  his  substance.  And  thus,  O  Brahman, 
apart  from  her  husband  a  woman  is  a  non-entity 
and  a  shadow  without  a  substance :  being  nothing 
but  the  mirror  of  himself,  reflected  on  the  mirror 
of  illusion. 

VI 

WILD   FLOWERS 

Then  said  Indra:  O  slender- waisted  lady,  thou 
arguest  well  of  the  general  duty  of  wives ;  and  yet 
this  does  not  vindicate  thy  own  infatuation  in  con- 
sorting with  such  a  one  as  is  he  whom  thou  hast 
chosen  for  thy  husband.  Thou  hast  sacrificed  the 
flower  of  thy  virgin  beauty  on  an  altar  unworthy 
of  it,  and  fallen  from  the  state  of  a  queen  to  be  the 
wife  of  a  wandering  vagabond. 

Then  said  Wanawallari:  O  Brahman,  every 
flower,  sooner  or  later,  must  fade,  for  this  is  its 
destined  and  inevitable  end.  Fade  it  must  at 
last,  whether  it  be  on  the  head  of  a  queen  in  the 
palace,  or  alone  in  the  depths  of  the  wood.  And 
who  shall  say,  whether  it  is  not  better  for  the 
flower  to  wither  in  the  wood,  than  as  an  orna- 
ment in  the  hair  of  queens?     So  then,  if  I  have 


Wild  Flowers  375 

abandoned  my  royal  position,  and  betaken  myself 
to  the  forest  and  solitude  with  my  husband,  what 
is  lost  that  deserves  to  be  regretted  ?  Art  thou  so 
sure  in  my  case  that  it  is  a  loss  and  not  rather  a 
gain,  if  like  a  flower  I  live  and  fade  in  the  forest 
alone?  For  once  there  was  a  king  who  was  be- 
trayed by  his  wife.  And  he  cast  off  his  kingdom 
like  a  snake  its  old  skin,  and  threw  away  every- 
thing hke  a  blade  of  grass,  and  turned  his  back 
upon  the  world.  And  he  went,  not  to  the  Ganges, 
but  away  into  the  great  southern  forest,  for  he 
said:  Let  me  go  where  I  shall  never  again  see  a 
human  face,  or  hear  a  hm  lan  voice  again.  So 
day  after  day  he  went  on  into  the  unknown 
depths  of  that  terrible  forest,  till  after  a  time  he 
found  himself  alone  with  his  shadow  among  the 
giant  trees.  And  then,  all  of  a  sudden,  those 
trees  came  abruptly  to  an  end.  And  he  looked, 
and  lo!  he  stood  on  the  bank  of  a  great  river, 
whose  water  was  studded  as  far  as  his  eye  could 
see  with  a  countless  host  of  lotus  flowers  that 
coloured  that  region  blue.  And  every  lotus  had 
for  its  lover  a  great  golden  bee,  that  buzzed  about 
it  like  an  incarnation  of  the  sun,  come  down 
to  earth  after  self-multiplication,  like  Krishna 
among  the  Gopis,  in  order  that  each  lotus  might 
think  itself  alone  beloved.  And  the  king  mar- 
velled at  the  sight  of  that  lonely  lotus  haunted, 


376  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

bee-booming  river,  and  he  lived  there  till  he  died, 
alone.  And  if  the  Creator  could  frame  those  fair 
flowers  in  the  midst  of  that  wilderness  to  live  and 
die  with  never  an  eye  to  see,  surely  they  were 
better  than  if  they  had  all  been  gathered  to  fade 
upon  the  hair  of  a  million  queens.  Moreover, 
where  my  husband  is,  there  is  no  soHtude :  for  all 
the  company  that  I  need  is  his. 

VII 

OUT   OF    A    FORMER   BIRTH 

Then  said  Indra:  O  dark-haired  lady,  thou 
talkest  of  thy  husband  as  if  thou  hadst  known 
him  from  thy  birth;  whereas  thou  didst  set  eyes 
on  him  for  the  very  first  time  in  thy  life,  last  night. 
And  how  then  canst  thou  tell  that  he  will  not 
cease  to  satisfy  thy  soul,  or  that  he  on  his  part 
may  not  weary  of  thee,  and  cast  thee  carelessly 
away:  for  ye  are  strangers  that  have  met  by 
chance. 

Then  said  Wanawallari:  Brahman,  thou  art 
speaking  only  to  beguile  me :  or  else  thou  art  but 
a  poor  pundit  on  the  essence  of  the  world.  Know, 
that  a  woman  recognises  in  an  instant,  with  un- 
erring sagacity,  if  only  she  be  fortunate  enough  to 
see  him,  the  man  proper  to  be  her  husband:  for 
this  depends  not  upon  the  shallow  and  casual  ex- 
periences of  this  life,  but  the  store  of  reminiscences 


Out  of  a  Former  Birth  377 

of  a  former  birth.  Moreover,  there  are  instants 
and  atoms  of  time  containing  in  themselves  causes 
and  consequences  that  run  both  ways  into  the 
two  eternities  of  the  past  and  the  future,  being  as 
it  were  the  fruit  of  the  one  and  the  seed  of  the 
other :  and  many  times  it  happens  that  the  twink- 
ling of  an  eye  determines  the  destiny  of  a  soul. 
And  this  was  my  case:  for  since  I  saw  my  hus- 
band, I  am  other  than  I  was,  altered  for  infinity 
by  a  moment  of  illumination  and  the  nectar  of 
mutual  recognition.  Has  not  the  Creator  planted 
in  the  core  of  all  things  animate  and  inanimate 
aversions  and  attractions  to  be  their  destiny,  not 
to  be  controlled  or  disobeyed?  As  once  there 
was  a  mournful  maiden,  married  against  her  will 
to  a  certain  king.  So  when  they  were  united, 
horror  and  the  hatred  of  life  entered  and  inhab- 
ited her  soul.  And  every  time  that  he  approached 
her,  she  fell  into  a  swoon  that  resembled  a  fore- 
taste of  death.  Then  finding  it  impossible  to 
come  near  her,  that  king  was  amazed.  And 
he  said  to  himself:  Surely  there  must  be  for 
this  extraordinary  antipathy  some  extraordinary 
cause,  buried  in  the  mysterious  darkness  of  the 
past.  For  other  women,  so  far  from  shunning 
my  embraces,  welcome  and  even  court  them, 
becoming  abhisdrikds  ^  for  my  sake :    for  I  am  a 

'  An  abhisdrikd  is  a  woman  who  goes  of  her  own  accord  to 
her  lover,  or,  as  we  might  say,  throws  herself  at  his  head. 


378  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

very  handsome  man.  And  he  went  and  offered 
sacrifice  in  the  temple  of  Maheshwara.  And 
standing  before  the  image,  he  exclaimed:  O  thou 
knower  of  past,  present,  and  future,  if  thou  dost 
not  reveal  to  me  the  cause  of  this  aversion,  I  will 
this  very  moment  cut  off  my  own  head.  Then 
the  image  of  the  deity  uttered  a  loud  laugh. 
And  it  said:  O  foolish  king,  this  is  a  very  simple 
thing.  Know,  that  long  ago,  in  a  former  birth, 
thou  and  she  fell  by  reason  of  sins  previously  com- 
mitted into  the  bodies  of  brutes.  And  she  be- 
came a  snake,  and  thou  a  peacock.  Hence  she 
cannot  endure  even  thy  proximity,  for  thou  dost 
retain  a  strain  of  the  nature  of  the  peacock,  and 
its  vanity.  And  the  king  said:  But  why,  then, 
do  I  feel  no  corresponding  aversion  for  her  ?  And 
the  god  said :  Because  in  another  birth  thou  wast 
a  bird  of  the  race  of  Garuda,  of  which  snakes  are 
the  appropriate  food.  Moreover,  women  retain 
traces  of  these  affect  ons  and  abhorrences  more 
permanently  than  men,  because  emotion  is  of  the 
essence  of  their  soul:  and  plunged  in  bodies,  like 
vats,  they  carry  away,  like  pure  water,  the  stain 
of  the  dye.  So  learning  the  truth,  the  king  took 
another  wife,  and  lived  with  her  in  peace.  And 
thus,  0  Brahman,  I  was  drawn  to  my  husband  the 
very  moment  that  I  saw  him  by  a  cord  woven  in 
a  former  birth,  irresistible  and  invisible  as  the 


The  Illusion  of  Beauty  379 

power  that  draws  grass  to  the  amber  jewel. 
And  now  I  have  been  riveted  to  him  by  our 
marriage  as  with  adamantine  bolts. 

VIII 

THE   ILLUSION   OF    BEAUTY 

Then  said  Indra:  O  lady  of  large  eyes  and 
heavy  lashes,  thou  arguest  like  a  partisan  in  thy 
own  favour:  yet  is  thy  action  only  the  result  of 
sudden  passion,  which  made  thee  forget  thy 
maiden  modesty,  and  like  an  ahhisdrikd  hasten 
to  thy  husband's  arms,  moving  not  like  a  woman 
of  good  family,  but  by  self-will  and  independence, 
attracted  by  the  beauty  of  thy  husband. 

Then  said  Wanawallari:  O  Brahman,  in  this 
I  have  done  nothing  unbecoming  a  maiden  of  my 
caste.  For  the  daughters  of  kings  have  had  from 
the  beginn'ng  the  privilege  of  choosing  their  own 
husbands.  But  they  show  their  family  in  this, 
that  when  once  they  have  chosen,  they  abide  by 
their  decision,  and  cling  to  their  husband  with  a 
grasp  that  laughs  at  the  endeavours  of  even  death 
to  break  its  hold.  And  if  I  have  done  wrong  in 
yielding  to  the  fascination  of  my  husband,  I  will 
make  amends  for  it  hereafter.  And  yet  the  fault 
is  rather  that  of  the  Creator  than  my  own. 
Wouldst   thou   blame  the  lotus  for  intoxicating 


38o  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

bees?  Or  why  did  the  Creator  give  beauty  to 
women  or  to  men,  but  to  snare  each  other's  souls? 
And  even  the  gods  come  under  thy  reproof,  for 
which  of  them  is  not  subdued  by  the  beauty  of 
his  wife  ?  Nay,  there  are  some  who  have  even  gone 
astray,  bewildered  by  the  infatuation  of  beauty 
in  a  sex  other  than  their  own.^  Why  dost  thou 
blame  me  for  obeying  the  nature  of  a  woman,  and 
worshipping  that  masculine  beauty  which  is  my 
goal?  For  the  three  worlds  are  only  an  incarna- 
tion of  action  such  as  mine,  and  thy  accusation 
would  rob  this  universe  of  motion  and  life,  which 
subsist  only  by  virtue  of  reciprocal  attraction. 
For  beauty  dazzles  and  allures,  and  being  itself 
only  an  illusion  draws  every  creature  after  it, 
like  a  cunning  piper,  into  that  vain  revolving 
dance  which  sages  call  the  world;  and  which 
without  its  object  would  vanish  like  a  dream 
when  the  dreamer  is  awake.  And  we  all  move  in 
an  everlasting  round,  like  the  drops  of  water  in 
a  waterfall,  leaving  an  impression  of  permanence 
upon  the  eye  of  the  observer ;  yet  is  this  perman- 
ence only  an  illusion,  and  due  to  the  perpetual 
flow  of  its  fleeting  and  fantastic  atoms.  And  in 
our  momentary  life,  one  thing  only  is  essential, 
to  taste  if  we  can  a  single  drop  of  the  nectar  of 

»  This,  though  she  knew  it  not,  was  a  home-thrust:    for 
of  Indra,  as  of  Zeus,  there  is  a  scandalous  chronicle. 


The  Two  Kings  381 

true  love,  which  is  possible,  for  every  atom,  only 
if  it  can  catch  a  glimpse  of  that  peculiar  beauty 
which  is  the  proper  object  of  its  soul.  And  there- 
fore, O  Brahman,  I  am  not  ashamed  of  adoring 
the  beauty  of  my  husband,  but  I  glory  and  rejoice 
in  it,  like  one  who  has  found  the  fruit  of  her  birth. 
And  like  a  moth,  I  flew  into  his  candle,  and  be- 
came a  willing  victim.  And  I  am  ready  to  endure 
all  the  consequences  of  my  choice.  And  when  I 
waver  in  my  allegiance  to  my  lord,  I  will  acknow- 
ledge the  justice  of  thy  reproof. 

IX 

THE   TWO   KINGS 

Then  said  Indra :  O  low- voiced  lady,  when  did 
a  woman's  tongue  ever  lack  excuses  for  her  be- 
haviour with  her  lover?  and  thy  ingenuity  is  not 
inferior  to  that  of  any  of  thy  sex.  And  yet,  say 
what  thou  wilt,  thou  knowest  that  thy  father  will 
not  share  thy  own  opinion  in  this  matter:  and 
thou  and  thy  husband  are  likely  to  come  to  a 
speedy  and  miserable  end,  as  soon  as  he  discovers 
where  you  are. 

Then  said  Wanawallari:  Brahman,  thou  art 
partly  in  the  right,  for  it  is  possible  that  sudden 
anger  may  cause  my  father  to  act  rashly.  And 
yet   even  here,  time   may  show  that  thou  art 


3^2  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

mistaken,  for  policy  is  the  first  consideration  with 
my  father,  and  he  may  see  reason  to  forgive  us. 
But  let  him  do  as  he  pleases,  he  cannot  harm  me. 
For  whether  he  lets  my  husband  live,  or  kills  him, 
he  cannot  now  divide  us,  nor  deprive  me  of  my 
right  to  follow  him  alive  or  dead,  for  a  wife  be- 
longs not  to  her  father  but  to  her  husband.  So 
if  we  live,  we  live,  and  if  we  die,  we  die  together. 
And  death  is  no  evil,  but  only  an  inevitable 
change;  and  often  for  the  better,  if  the  life  to 
which  it  puts  an  end  be  one  of  works  deserving  a 
reward.  For  once  there  were  two  kings  of  the 
desert,  called  Haya  and  Gaja  ' :  and  they  were 
deadly  enemies.  And  Gaja  set  upon  Haya,  and 
killed  his  son  and  captured  his  wives  and  his 
capital  and  drove  him  away.  So  being  reduced 
to  extremity,  Haya  entered  the  service  of  Gaja, 
who  did  not  know  him  by  sight,  as  a  personal 
retainer.  And  while  he  waited  for  an  oppor- 
ttmity  to  revenge  himself,  Gaja  was  attacked 
and  his  army  destroyed  by  a  third  king,  and  he 
fled  into  the  desert,  badly  wounded,  with  only 
Haya  for  his  companion,  hoping  to  cross  over  the 
desert  and  get  back  to  his  own  capital  and  be 
safe.  So  they  two  went  together  over  the  desert. 
And  having  but  one  skin  of  water,  they  could  give 

»  "Horse"  and  "elephant."     (Pronounce  Gaj-  to  rhyme 
with  trudge.) 


The  Two  Kings  383 

none  to  their  horses,  which  died:  and  they  went 
on  on  foot. 

Then  Gaja  said  to  Haya :  There  is  hardly  water 
in  this  skin  to  carry  one  man  across  the  desert; 
much  less  two:  and  now  our  fate  is  sure.  And 
they  went  on,  and  day  by  day  the  water  shrank. 
And  Haya  carried  the  skin.  And  one  night,  as 
Gaja  slept  upon  the  sand,  Haya  remained  awake. 
And  he  looked  at  the  skin  of  water,  and  said: 
One  man  could  cross  the  desert  on  this  water,  but 
not  two.  And  now  my  enemy  lies  there  before 
me.  So  he  sat  in  silence,  with  his  naked  sword 
in  his  hand,  alone  in  the  desert  with  the  twinkling 
stars,  watching  Gaja  as  he  slept,  all  night  long. 
And  in  the  morning  they  went  on.  And  as  the 
sun  grew  hotter,  Gaja  grew  fainter,  for  he  was 
weakened  by  his  wound.  And  he  said  to  Haya: 
Let  us  drink,  even  if  we  die.  So  they  drank. 
But  Haya  put  shut  lips  to  the  water,  and  took 
none  into  his  mouth.  And  so  they  went  on  day 
by  day,  and  Gaja  drank  the  water.  But  Haya  only 
put  it  to  his  mouth,  and  looked  at  it  with  glittering 
eyes,  and  lips  closed  like  the  door  of  death. 

And  at  last  there  came  a  day,  when  Gaja  said: 
My  wound  has  robbed  me  of  my  strength,  and 
now  I  can  go  no  further.  Moreover,  the  water  is 
done.  Then  Haya  said :  Be  strong:  it  is  but  one 
day  more.     But  Gaja  said :  Go  thou  on  and  save 


384  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

thyself,  and  leave  me  here  to  die.     And  he  fell 
upon  the  sand,  and  lay  in  a  half-swoon. 

And  then  Haya  stooped,  and  took  him  in  his 
arms,  and  staggered  on.  And  as  he  went,  he  grew 
giddy,  and  his  senses  wandered,  and  the  desert 
danced  before  his  eyes.  And  he  heard  in  his  ears 
the  plash  of  water,  and  the  drums  of  the  desert 
rang  in  his  head,  and  behind  him  the  spirits  of  the 
region  of  death  called  to  one  another  across  the 
sand,  and  laughed  and  mocked  him  as  he  went 
like  one  going  in  a  dream.  So  he  struggled  on  in 
the  loneliness,  while  his  Hfe  ebbed  away,  withering 
like  a  flower  in  the  burning  fire  of  that  angry  sun. 
And  suddenly  he  heard  in  his  dream  the  voice  of 
Gaja,  crying  above  his  head:  Lo!  yonder  is  the 
city  away  before  us,  and  now  we  are  saved.  Then 
Haya  set  him  down.  And  he  said :  O  King,  I  am 
Haya,  and  now  I  have  brought  thee  over  the 
dusty  death.  And  he  fell  with  his  face  upon  the 
sand,  and  went  to  the  other  world.  But  Yama 
saw  that  action  and  remembered  it:  and  Haya 
rose  in  the  next  birth  out  of  mortality  and  became 
a  spirit  of  the  air. 

X 

A   PARIAH   DOG 

Then  said  Indra:  O  lady,  whose  bow-arched 
eyebrow  is  touched  with  the  exquisite  beauty  of 


A  Pariah  Dog  385 

faint  surprise,  certainly  that  brave  Rajpoot  de- 
served his  reward:  but  what  is  there  in  common 
between  his  action  and  that  of  thyself  and  thy 
husband? 

Then  said  Wanawallari:  Brahman,  that  which 
is  common  to  us  is  our  reward :  For  I  regard  my 
meeting  with  my  husband  as  a  special  favour  of 
the  deity  greater  even  than  the  rise  of  Haya  in 
the  scale  of  being,  and  due  beyond  a  doubt,  like 
that,  to  some  meritorious  action  in  a  previous 
birth.  But  as  to  our  actions  in  this  life,  there  is 
still  time :  and  I  will  endeavour  to  efface  whatever 
there  may  be  of  egotism  and  independence  in  this 
action  of  mine  by  the  whole  tenor  of  my  future 
obedience.  And  do  not  therefore  be  too  ready  to 
estimate  the  future  of  our  lives  by  the  past:  for 
while  life  itself  endures,  there  is  the  possibility  of 
change,  and  many  times  it  has  happened  that  the 
very  close  of  life  has  brought  with  it  something 
contradictory  of  its  whole  previous  course.  As 
once  there  was  a  dog  without  an  owner.  And  it 
had  nowhere  to  go,  and  nothing  to  eat:  but  it 
scraped  for  itself  a  miserable  subsistence  from  the 
refuse  of  chance,  eating  and  drinking  out  of 
gutters:  and  it  was  very  thin,  and  covered  with 
sores  and  wounds :  for  every  one  that  saw  it  cursed 
it  and  abused  it  and  drove  it  about,  beating  it 
with  sticks  and  pelting  it  with  stones;    so  that 

85 


386  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

living  in  terror  of  perpetual  death,  it  carried  its 
tail  between  its  legs,  and  in  its  sad  eyes  hunger 
fought  for  the  mastery  with  fear  and  shame.  So 
it  continued  to  live,  until  at  last  its  end  was  near. 
And  one  day  when  it  was  so  weak  that  it  could 
hardly  walk,  there  came  by  it  along  the  road  a 
bullock  cart,  containing  a  number  of  women  who 
were  coming  from  a  wedding  feast.  And  seeing 
the  dog,  they  all  began  to  jeer  at  it.  But  one  of 
those  women  got  down  from  the  cart,  and  going 
up  to  the  dog  with  compassion  in  her  heart  offered 
it  a  piece  of  cake.  And  the  dog  looked  at  her  with 
wistful  eyes,  not  understanding;  for  in  its  whole 
life  no  one  had  ever  done  it  a  kindness  of  any  sort. 
And  after  a  while,  it  wagged,  very  gently,  the 
very  end  of  its  thin  tail.  And  thus,  O  Brahman, 
none  can  tell  with  certainty  the  end  of  a  life  from 
its  beginning:  and  it  may  be  that  my  husband, 
or  even  I  myself,  may  find  opportunity  to  redeem 
ourselves  from  thy  censure  hereafter,  by  conduct 
deserving  of  thy  approval. 

XI 

A    RED    LOTUS 

Then  said  Indra:  O  ripe  red  fruit-lipped  lady, 
for  all  that  thou  canst  say,  thou  canst  not  persuade 
me  that  thou  hast  not  done  very  ill  in  forsaking 


A  Rl-cI  Lotus  3^7 

thy  father's  house  for  the  arms  of  this  stranger. 
Wilt  thou  find  reasons  to  ]:)ro\'e  that  it  is  the  duty 
of  ah  kings'  daughters  to  run  away  with  robbers 
that  break  into  their  palaces  by  night? 

Then  said  Wanawallari :  O  Brahman,  my  case 
is  an  exception  and  not  a  rule,  for  all  rules  have 
exceptions.  Moreover,  though  maybe  thou  wilt 
disbelieve  it,  know,  that  even  I  would  not  have 
acted  as  I  did,  but  for  just  this  husband  and  no 
other.  For  though  I  may  appear  to  have  acted  in 
this  matter  with  indiscretion  and  frivolity,  yet  it 
has  been  not  in  accordance  with  my  nature,  but 
against  it;  and  therefore  it  furnishes  no  rules, 
either  for  any  other  person,  or  even  for  myself. 
For  once  in  a  way  a  coward  may  be  brave,  and 
a  miser  generous,  and  a  wise  man  foolish,  or  even 
a  sane  man  mad :  and  so  may  a  woman  give  her- 
self away  without  reserve  to  that  one  man  who 
wakens  the  sleeping  adoration  in  her  heart,  and 
lights  in  her  soul  the  everlasting  fire,  without 
forfeiting  her  claim  to  be  enrolled  among  the  pure 
women  of  the  world.  And  this  I  know  to  be  my 
case,  for  my  conscience  is  at  ease,  and  does  not 
blame  me.  And  she  who  has  her  own  soul  on  her 
side  requires  no  other  witness  to  her  purity.  As 
once  there  was  a  king  with  many  wives,  who  were 
all  unfaithful  and  untrue  to  him,  but  one.  So 
having  to  go  upon  a  warlike  expedition,  he  gave 


388  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

each  of  them  a  lotus,  and  said:  Keep  this  red 
lotus,  and  show  it  to  me  when  I  come  again ;  and 
its  colour  shall  be  a  proof  of  thy  fidelity.  For  I 
received  it  from  the  deity,  and  it  will  never 
wither,  so  long  as  thou  art  true  to  me  alone.  And 
then  he  went  away.  And  as  soon  as  he  was  gone, 
all  those  wives  with  one  exception  amused  them- 
selves with  other  men.  And  very  soon  they  all 
looked  to  see  their  lotuses,  and  found  them 
withered  away  and  dead.  And  they  all  became 
afraid,  being  conscious  of  their  guilt,  except  the 
one.  Then  presently  news  arrived  that  the  king 
was  coming  back.  And  when  he  arrived,  all 
his  wives  appeared  to  meet  him,  rejoicing  and 
adorned,  with  protestations  of  affection.  And  the 
king  said :  Show  me  all  your  lotuses.  And  they 
showed  them,  each  her  own:  and  lo!  they  were 
all  fresh  and  red  as  when  he  gave  them.  Only 
that  one  good  wife  gave  him  a  withered  lotus. 
And  she  said:  O  my  lord,  I  know  not  how  it 
is,  that  all  these  lotuses  are  fresh.  For  here  is 
my  lotus  dead  and  withered,  contrary  to  thy 
word:  and  yet  my  heart  has  never  thought  of 
any  man  but  thee.  Then  all  those  other  wives 
exclaimed  against  her,  for  they  hated  her:  and 
they  said :  0  king,  she  is  corrupt,  and  we  all  know 
it:  and  now  here  is  the  proof.  But  the  king 
looked  at  them,  and  he  laughed.     And  he  said: 


The  W'incl  and  the  Lca\cs        389 

O  ye  fools,  hc^w  could  a  lotus  remain  fresh  for  so 
many  months?  Now  are  you  all  condemned  by 
your  own  endea\'ours  to  conceal  your  guilt.  But 
she  alone  was  acquitted  by  her  heart,  and  did  not 
fear  the  withering  (^f  her  lotus:  and  she  alone  is 
pure,  and  worthy  tc^  be  my  queen.  For  the  lotus 
that  did  not  wither  was  the  lotus  of  her  heart. 

XII 

THE    WIND    AND    THE    LEAVES 

Then  said  Indra:  O  lady  with  a  smile  like  the 
opening  of  a  bakiila  ^  l)lossom,  even  if  th()U  wert 
thyself  deserving  of  excuse  for  falling  victim  to 
the  innocence  and  tenderness  of  thv  own  maiden 
and  unsophisticated  heart,  yet  canst  thou  not  ex- 
culpate thy  husband,  for  coming  like  a  thief  at 
night  and  stealing  thee  away.  Well  didst  thou 
say  thyself,  that  like  a  moth  thou  hast  flown  mto 
the  fire,  and  burned  away  thy  gauzy  wings. 

Then  said  Wanawallari :  Brahman,  how  can  a 
weak  woman  hope  to  avoid  a  fate  that  oNcrtakes 
even  the  greatest  gods?  Was  not  the  god  of  love 
himself  shrivelled  like  a  butterfly  in  the  fire  of  the 
Great  God's  eye?     And  how  then  could  I  escai^e 

1  Mi)nicsops  Elcjii^i:  a  very  fragrant  llrnver  celebrated  in 
Hindoo  stories;  Bakiili  l^eing  a  fav'ourite  name  for  a  ])rinc:ess 
or  heroine. 


390  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

from  the  fire  in  the  eyes  of  him  who  is  to  me  in 
place  of  God?  Come  now,  shall  I  prove  to  thee 
that  my  husband  has  done  no  harm  but  rather 
good?  Dost  thou  not  know  that  women  are  like 
leaves,  and  love  is  like  the  wind,  that  blows  hither 
and  thither  among  the  trees  at  its  own  sweet  way- 
ward will.  And  to  every  tree  it  comes  and  shakes 
the  leaves.  And  some  fall  on  the  instant,  while 
others  remain  fixed  for  a  little  time  upon  the 
bough :  but  sooner  or  later  all  are  doomed  to  fall, 
save  only  those  which  unkind  fate  keeps  un- 
naturally fastened  to  wither  and  decay  upon  the 
tree.  For  whether  they  fall  or  do  not  fall,  they 
cannot  escape  the  common  inevitable  end.  So 
what  is  gained  by  the  leaf  that  remains  upon  the 
tree?  Were  it  not  best  to  yield  and  fall,  when 
wooed  by  a  breeze  laden  with  the  fragrance  of 
sandal  from  the  mount  of  Malaya,  than  wait  to  be 
torn,  willy-nilly,  from  the  bough  by  an  over- 
bearing ungentlemanly  blast?  Now  show  me  if 
thou  canst  a  man  more  worthy  to  be  my  own  or 
any  other  woman's  husband  than  is  he  who  stole 
me  from  my  tree:  for  I  have  seen  innumerable 
men  as  I  looked  from  my  window,  and  never  any 
one  to  be  compared  with  him.  For  he  is  strong 
and  I  am  weak :  and  he  is  brave  and  I  am  timid : 
and  his  father  was  a  king,  and  so  is  mine :  and  he 
is  beautiful,  and  I  can  read  in  all  men's  eyes  as 


A  King  and  Queen  391 

well  as  thine  that  I  am  too.  For  beauty  shakes 
the  heart  of  whosoever  sees  it,  whether  man  or 
woman,  and  uproots  it,  and  if  it  is  very  powerful 
snaps  like  cotton  threads  all  the  fibres  that  fixed 
it  to  its  ancient  soil,  and  carries  it  away,  as  his 
did  mine.  And  so  the  heart  of  a  woman  is  blown 
about  and  carried  along  by  her  husband,  wherever 
he  may  choose  to  take  her.  And  they  who  would 
have  it  otherwise  are  not  pundits  in  the  mystery 
of  life.  For  my  heart  lay  buried  in  utter  darkness, 
like  the  earth  at  night:  and  there  came  in  my 
husband  at  the  window,  like  the  sun  at  dawn :  and 
in  a  moment  I  was  full  of  the  red  delight  of  love. 
And  now  my  soul  is  his  by  right,  for  all  that  now 
it  is,  is  due  to  him:  and  its  colour  and  its  glad- 
ness are  only  the  reflection  and  the  consequence  of 
him.  Take  him  away,  and  all  would  disappear. 
And  wilt  thou  blame  the  sun,  for  turning  black 
night  to  rosy  dawn? 

XIII 

A   KING   AND    QUEEN 

Then  said  Indra:  O  lady,  whose  body  diffuses 
all  around  it  the  camphor  perfume  of  high  caste, 
thy  pleading  for  thy  culprit  husband  and  thyself 
resembles  the  reflection  of  a  peacock's  tail  in 
silent  water:  for  it  is  various  and  beautiful,  and 


392  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

yet  it  is  nothing  but  illusion;  for  thou  art  be- 
wildered and  intoxicated  with  the  glamour  of  first 
love,  which  lends  eloquence  to  thy  tongue  and 
makes  thee  take  a  wandering  Rajpoot  for  a  god. 
Then  said  Wanawallari :  O  Brahman,  all  is 
illusion  in  this  world,  and  yet  some  illusions  last 
longer  than  others:  there  is  no  other  distinction 
or  difference  between  them.  And  what  does  it 
matter  even  if,  as  thou  sayest,  my  faith  in  my 
husband  were  illusion,  provided  only  that  it  lasts, 
at  least  as  long  as  life?  What  can  be  more  illus- 
ive than  a  dream,  yet  who  can  discern  the  illusion 
of  a  dream,  till  by  its  coming  to  an  end  he  wakes? 
Is  not  illusion  as  good  as  reality,  until  it  is  dis- 
covered to  be  illusion?  Thy  words  are  there- 
fore naught,  until  my  illusion  is  destroyed.  Yet 
this  may  never  be,  for  time  may  be  wanting  to 
detect  it.  It  is  a  gain,  even  if  it  endure  only  for 
to-day,  for  who  knows  for  certain  that  he  will  see 
the  rising  of  another  sun?  As  once  there  was  a 
king,  who  was  playing  in  the  water  with  his  queen 
at  midday  in  the  season  of  hot  weather.  And 
standing  in  that  cool  and  crystal  water,  first  he 
made  her  into  statues,  while  he  watched  the 
pictures  of  her  attitudes  reflected  in  its  mirror: 
and  afterwards  he  splashed  her  with  the  water,  till 
the  queen  began  to  look  like  a  young  moon  peeping 
through  the  clouds :  for  her  wet  clothes  clung  to 


A  King  and  Queen  393 

her  body,  showing  the  outline  of  her  limbs,  and 
her  dark  blue  hair  was  loosened  from  its  braid  and 
fell  round  her  in  a  mass,  and  rained  into  the 
water.  And  when  they  were  tired,  they  rested 
together  in  the  shade  of  the  ruin  of  an  arbour  that 
stood  by  the  pool;  and  the  king  suddenly  fell 
asleep  with  his  head  on  her  lap.  And  he  dreamed 
that  he  went  hunting  in  the  morning,  and  as  he 
went,  he  saw  a  Brahman  lying  asleep  under  a 
tree.  And  when  at  evening  he  came  back,  there 
was  the  Brahman  still  asleep.  So  he  sent  his  at- 
tendants to  awake  him.  Then  after  a  while  they 
returned,  and  said :  Mahar^jd,,  this  Brahman  will 
not  wake,  do  what  we  may:  and  yet  he  is  not 
dead,  for  he  is  warm,  and  breathes.  Then  the 
king  had  him  brought  into  the  palace,  and  laid 
upon  a  bed.  And  there  that  sleeper  lay  for  seven 
years,  while  the  king  lived  his  life.  And  at  last, 
one  day,  that  Brahman  suddenly  awoke.  And 
he  looked  round  in  amazement,  and  exclaimed: 
What  is  this?  for  only  just  now  I  lay  down  to 
sleep  beneath  a  tree.  And  the  king  said:  Brah- 
man, thou  hast  lain  there  asleep  for  seven  years, 
and  all  the  while  I  have  done  my  daily  duties,  and 
made  wars  and  peaces,  and  begotten  sons  and 
daughters,  who  have  grown  whilst  thou  didst 
sleep  upon  the  bed.  And  just  as  the  Brahman 
was  about  to  answer,  the  king  suddenly  awoke 


394  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

himself.  And  he  heard  the  voice  of  his  queen, 
saying:  Aryaputra,  art  thou  asleep?  Then  the 
king  said:  How  long  have  I  slept?  And  she 
said:  Thou  hast  only  just  laid  thy  head  upon  my 
lap.  Then  the  king  looked  at  her  with  astonish- 
ment. And  suddenly  he  exclaimed:  Ha!  all  is 
illusion,  and  all  is  momentary:  what  is  time  and 
what  is  a  dream?  I  have  slept  for  seven  years: 
and  there  are  thy  wet  clothes  still  clinging  to  the 
twins,  that,  like  arrogant  rebels,  stand  out  from 
thy  breast.  And  beyond  a  doubt,  thou  and  I  are 
but  dreaming,  and  presently  we  shall  awake. 
Kiss  me  quickly,  without  losing  a  moment,  while 
yet  there  is  time.  And  she  thought  he  was  mad. 
But  she  bent  obediently  towards  him,  with  the 
himhd  i  of  her  lower  lip  pursed  for  a  kiss.  And 
at  that  very  moment,  the  roof  of  that  ruined  ar- 
bour fell  in  and  crushed  them,  and  they  died  on 
the  spot:  awaking  from  their  dream  before  they 
had  time  to  kiss  each  other,  as  the  king  had  feared. 
And  who  can  tell,  O  Brahman,  whether  it  may 
not  be  our  lot,  also  to  wake  from  the  dream  of  our 
life,  before  there  is  time  to  wake  from  the  illusion 
of  our  love? 

»  A  fruit  employed  by  Hindoo  poets  as  we  speak  of  "cherry  " 
lips. 


Love  the  Fisherman  395 

XIV 

LOVE    THE    FISHERMAN 

Then  said  Indra:  O  lady  of  limbs  that  are 
shaped  like  serpents  sweeping  and  winding  in 
curving  coils,  thy  words  are  prophetic,  and  thy 
own  dream  is  likely  to  prove  but  a  short  one,  with 
a  bitter  awakening  even  in  this  life.  What  if  this 
husband  of  thine  should  have  left  thee  already, 
never  to  return? 

Then  Wanawallari  said  with  a  smile:  O  Brah- 
man, hast  thou  never  seen  a  man  of  the  caste  of 
fishermen,  fishing  for  little  fishes  in  the  water  of 
the  Ganges  ?  Once  they  have  swallowed  the  bait, 
they  cannot  escape,  being  held  fast  by  the  cord. 
And  then  being  caught,  they  are  roasted  by  their 
captor  at  the  flame  of  a  fire,  and  devoured.  Dost 
thou  not  know  that  the  god  of  love  has  a  fish  for 
the  sign  on  his  banner?  And  why,  save  that  he 
is  himself  a  fisherman,  who  fishes  for  the  hearts  of 
men,  using  women  for  his  bait?  And  so  only  last 
night  he  fished  for  my  husband,  and  caught  him, 
using  me  for  his  lure,  and  now  the  fish  can  no 
longer  escape.  For  he  has  swallowed  the  bait, 
and  the  cord  of  no  fisherman  was  ever  so  strong 
as  that  by  which  my  husband  is  held  by  that 
Master  Fisher,  Love.  For  such  is  the  cunning  of 
that  god,  that  so  far  from  shimning  the  fire  at 


39^  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

which  he  cooks  them,  his  fishy  victims  bask  and 
rejoice  in  it:  and  the  longer  my  husband  has  been 
away  from  me,  the  more  and  more  certain  his 
return,  and  the  more  intolerable  to  himself  his 
absence.  For  now  he  resembles  one  frozen  with 
the  ice  and  snow  of  the  Himalaya  mountain,  and 
very  soon  he  will  utterly  perish,  unless  he  comes 
back  to  warm  his  cold  heart  at  the  flame  which 
Love  keeps  ever  burning  in  my  own.  For  know, 
that  the  heart  of  a  loyal  wife  is  the  altar  of  Love, 
on  which  the  sacred  household  fire  ever  burns. 
And  it  shines  out  in  the  darkness,  to  guide  the 
travelling  husband  home:  and  n  his  absence,  its 
jiure  beam  on  the  black  night  resembles  the  streak 
made  by  gold  on  the  dark  touchstone  of  fidelity. 
And  no  fire  goes  out  while  there  is  still  fuel  to  feed 
it:  and  mine  is  not  yet  utterly  exhausted.  Nor 
was  I  so  foolish  as  to  let  my  husband  leave  me, 
without  a  security  for  his  return.  For  know,  O 
Brahman,  that  of  all  the  Creator's  creatures,  there 
are  only  two  that  do  not  require  to  hunt  for  their 
legitimate  prey,  but  wait  quietly  while  it  rushes  to 
destruction  in  their  toils  of  its  own  accord.  And 
of  these,  one  is  a  spider,^  and  the  other  is  a 
woman. 

>Thfs  word  might  also  mean  a  fisherman,  a  "netmaker." 


A  Woman's  Lord  397 

XV 

A  woman's  lord 

Then  said  Indra:  O  thou  delicious  lady,  Love 
has  cast  his  spell  upon  thee,  or  as  thou  say  est, 
caught  thee  on  his  hook;  and  now  thou  art  like 
one  who  looks  from  afar  upon  the  desert,  and 
admires  its  delusive  beauty,  not  knowing,  by 
reason  of  inexperience,  what  its  nature  really  is. 
And  doubtless  thou  art  right,  and  thy  husband 
will  hold  thee  fast,  while  the  blossom  of  thy 
beauty  is  fresh  and  fragrant  with  morning  dew; 
but  when  thou  art  worn  and  dusty  in  the  heat 
of  the  day,  beware!  lest  he  should  throw  thee 
away.  Thou  dost  not  know  what  lies  before  the 
vagabond's  wife. 

Then  said  Wanawallari:  Brahman,  she  that 
chooses  her  own  husband  resembles  a  bold  gam- 
bler, that  stakes  his  all  upon  a  single  cast  of  the 
die.  And  if  she  has  chosen  lightly,  guided  only 
by  frivolity  and  the  desire  of  selfish  pleasure,  evil 
and  woe  will  be  her  doom.  But  if  she  has  made 
her  choice  not  obeying  her  own  inebriation  but 
rather  spell-bound  and  appropriated  by  the 
master  spirit  of  her  true  husband  and  the  fatal 
moment  ^  that  brought  her  like  a  planet  within 

'  The  Sanskrit  word  lagna,  meaning  an  astrological  moment 
of  planetary  conjunction,  has  become,  in  modem  Marathi,  the 
common  term  for  a  marriage.     It  is,  I  believe,  essential  for  a 


398  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

his  grasp,  then  poor  is  her  nature  and  feeble  her 
devotion  if  she  be  not  prepared  to  follow  him  blind- 
fold, and  take  all  that  fate  in  his  form  may  involve 
in  her  lot.  For  she  that  leaves  all  behind  her  and 
comes  at  the  call  of  her  husband  does  so  not  out 
of  pleasure,  though  the  pleasure  is  supreme,  but 
as  it  were  against  her  own  will,  and  simply  be- 
cause she  cannot  help  it,  because  he  is  he.  And 
thereafter  nothing  can  befall  her,  for  the  fruit  of 
her  birth  is  obtained.  For  it  is  better  for  a 
woman  to  find  her  master,  even  if  he  should 
afterwards  ill-use  or  desert  her,  than  never  to 
discover  him  at  all.  For  every  woman  needs  a 
lord,  but  many  never  find  him.  But  when  she 
has  found  him,  let  him  treat  her  how  he  will,  she 
is  his.  But  if  she  finds  the  wrong  man,  though 
he  may  treat  her  as  a  queen  and  adore  her  as  a 
goddess,  yet  she  never  will  love  him  and  her 
heart  will  not  be  happy,  because  she  is  not  his, . 
and  he  cannot  command  her.  For  an  elephant  is 
held  by  a  chain,  and  a  woman  by  her  heart ;  and 
the  essence  of  her  love  is  the  sense  of  obedience ; 
for  no  woman  ever  loves  any  man,  unless  she 
knows  that  he  is  her  master  to  be  obeyed  without 
a  murmur  whether  she  will  or  no.  Yet  in  this  is 
no  slavery,  for  she  loves  her  chain,  and  likes  to  be 

Hindoo  marriage  that  the  horoscopes  of  the  bride  and  groom 
should  correspond. 


A  God  Abashed  399 

dominated  by  the  man  slie  adores.  And  for 
every  woman,  happiness  is  misery,  with  the  man 
who  is  not  her  true  master:  but  misery  is  hap- 
piness with  the  husband  who  is.  And  no  one 
but  a  woman  can  understand  the  indescribable 
pleasure  of  willing  obedience  to  her  lord ;  for  it 
arises  from  the  peculiarity  of  her  nature  which 
man  does  not  share ;  for  his  nature  is  not  to  obey 
but  command.  And  now,  my  husband  is  my 
lord,  and  I  am  his  slave.  And  if  he  continue  to 
love  me,  it  is  well:  and  if  not,  still  it  is  well,  for 
he  cannot  prevent  me  from  worshipping  him. 
For  though  the  Creator  may  if  he  pleases  drive 
away  the  swan  from  the  lotus-haunted  pool  that 
he  loves,  he  cannot  with  all  his  omnipotence  de- 
prive him  of  his  desire  of  the  pool.  Nor  can  any 
destiny  overpower  the  loyalty  of  a  wife :  for  she 
whose  devot'on  to  her  husband  is  diminished  by 
circumstance  or  change  was  never  his  wife,  but  a 
stranger,  joined  to  him  by  accident  and  error  and 
called  by  a  name  that  was  never  hers. 

XVI 

A    GOD    ABASHED 

Then  said  Indra:  O  lady  of  swelling  bosom 
and  lofty  soul,  though  thy  husband  has  found  in 
thee  a  jewel  through  no  merit  of  his  own,  still 


400  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

thou  canst  not  deny  that  he  is  a  scomer  of  the 
gods,  and  therefore  doomed  to  bring  himself  and 
thee  also  into  disaster  arising  from  their  anger. 

Then  Wanawallari  rose  up  and  stood  before  him. 
And  she  crossed  her  hands  over  her  bosom,  and 
lowered  her  long  dark  lashes  over  her  eyes.  And 
she  said :  Brahman,  now  I  am  a  wife,  and  it  may 
be  shall  soon  be  a  mother,  and  many  things  I 
know  now  that  yesterday  were  unknown  to  me. 
And  now,  let  me  ask  thee  a  question.  If  I  should 
have  a  son,  and  if,  when  he  grew  to  be  a  man,  in 
a  moment  of  forgetfulness  and  anger  due  to  evil 
fortune  he  should  curse  me  as  the  author  of  his 
misery :  tell  me,  what  woiild  be  my  duty?  Should 
I  abandon  and  forsake  him ;  or  should  I  not  rather 
forgive  and  condone  his  offence,  considering  it 
rather  as  the  outcome  of  a  moment  of  passion 
than  the  deliberate  act  of  a  hardened  ill-doer? 

And  she  raised  her  lashes,  and  looked  at  him 
with  clear,  irrefutable  eyes  that  penetrated  his 
soul,  and  waited  for  him  to  reply.  And  Indra 
was  abashed  before  her,  and  could  not  meet  her 
glance.  And  he  struck  his  hands  together,  and 
exclaimed :  O  woman  and  wife,  subtle-witted  and 
silver-tongued,  whose  incomparable  beauty  is 
rendered  irresistible  by  the  soft  love-light  in  thy 
young  bride's  eyes,  I  am  conquered  by  thee,  and 
thy  husband  is  blest  in  thee:   and  well  is  it  said, 


A  God  Abashed  401 

that  a  virtuous  woman  is  higher  than  the  gods. 
Know,  that  I  came  to  punish  thy  husband,  but 
thou  hast  redeemed  him,  and  stood  between  him 
and  the  wrath  of  heaven.  Take  thy  husband 
and  lead  him  into  the  good  path,  which  is  thy 
own,  and  save  him,  if  thou  canst,  from  thy 
father's  vengeance,  as  now  from  mine. 

And  instantly  he  vanished  from  before  her 
eyes,  and  flew  up  into  the  sky.  And  Water- 
lily  saw  him  go:  and  she  looked  after  him  with 
triumph  in  her  almond  eyes,  and  laughter  on  her 
vermilion  lips.  But  Wanawallari  started,  when 
she  saw  that  illusive  Brahman  disappear.  And 
she  drew  her  breath,  and  stood,  like  a  startled 
fawn,  with  wondering  eyes  and  moving  breast, 
while  the  colour  came  and  went  upon  her  cheek. 
And  then  she  said  to  herself :  It  was  as  I  thought, 
and  that  old  Brahman  was  some  deity,  descend- 
ing in  a  mortal  form  to  try  me.  For  his  eyelids 
never  moved,  ^  and  his  body  cast  no  shadow,  and 
he  knew  all  that  had  occurred  to  us  as  no  mortal 
could  have  known  it.  But  now,  let  me  remember 
his  words,  and  stand,  if  I  can,  between  my  hus- 
band and  my  father's  anger.  And  as  she  spoke, 
she  looked,  and  saw  her  husband  coming  quickly 
towards  her  along  the  street. 

>  A  peculiarity  of  gods,  denoted  by  fixed  epithets:   as  ani- 

ntisha,  stahdha-lochana,  one  ''whose  eyes  are  fixed,"  "who  does 

not  wink." 
36 


402  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

XVII 

NECTAR 

And  then  with  a  cry  of  joy,  she  ran  towards 
him,  while  the  colour  leaped  into  her  face.  And 
he  came  towards  her  very  quickly,  and  said :  See, 
here  is  food,  and  wine,  and  a  cup  out  of  which  we 
will  drink  together,  and  a  lute  for  thee  to  play. 
But  O!  how  beautiful  thou  art;  and  I  am  faint 
and  hungry,  but  only  for  the  nectar  of  thy  arms 
and  thy  lips.  And  she  put  her  arms  round  him, 
and  they  stood  together  for  an  instant,  while  their 
souls  met  rapturously  after  separation,  hovering  in 
agitation  at  the  door^  of  their  thirsty  lips.  And 
then,  after  a  while,  she  said :  Come,  thou  art  here, 
and  thou  art  hungry,  and  so  am  I.  Let  us  eat 
first,  and  then  it  may  be,  thou  shalt  kiss  me  again. 
But  Ranga  put  his  burden  down,  and  took  her  in 
his  arms.  And  he  kissed  her,  till  her  lips  turned 
pale,  as  if  for  fear  lest  her  breath  should  abandon 
her.  And  then  they  sat  together  by  the  well,  and 
ate  and  drank,  kissing  each  other  between  every 
mouthful,  and  smiling  with  tears  in  their  eyes, 
utterly  forgetting  their  own  names. 

Then  when  they  had  finished  eating,  they  got 
up  and  clasped  in  each  other's  arms,  like  a  human 
symbol  of  myself  2  and  thee,  they  wandered  about, 

»  Dantachada:  precisely  the  Homeric  ipnoS  odovroav. 
»  Maheshwara  loquitur. 


Nectar  403 

watching  the  parrots  screaming  in  the  fig  trees, 
and  the  monkeys  climbing  over  the  roofs  of  the 
deserted  houses,  and  sighing  by  reason  of  excess  of 
happiness,  and  laughing  without  a  cause,  while  the 
day  passed  away  like  a  flash  of  lightning,  and  the 
sun  went  to  his  rest  in  the  mountain  of  his  setting, 
and  the  moon  rose.  And  then  Wanawallari  said : 
Come  let  us  go  back,  and  find  the  wine,  and  we 
will  have  a  drinking  bout:  thou  shalt  drink  for 
both  of  us,  and  I  will  sing  and  play  to  thee  on  the 
lute,  and  dance  with  my  shadow  to  attend  me, 
to  show  thee  my  accomplishments  and  give  thee 
pleasure  in  the  light  of  the  moon.^  So  they  did. 
And  Ranga  sat  under  the  tree,  with  the  cup  of 
red  wine  in  his  hand,  while  she  danced  2  and 
played  and  sang  to  him,  looking  in  the  moonlight 
like  a  feminine  incarnation  of  the  camphor-essence 
and  beauty  of  the  moon  come  doWn  to  earth  to 
entrance  his  soul  and  wean  it  from  all  care  for 
earthly  things.  And  he  watched  her  with  in- 
toxicated eyes,  and  said  to  himself:  Surely  she  is 
a  portion  of  the  celestial  delight  of  heaven  that 
has  somehow  assumed  the  form  of  a  woman ;  or  a 
piece  of  sky-crystal  tumbled  by  accident  to  earth, 

>  There  is  a  pun  here :  she  compares  herself  to  a  digit  of  the 
moon. 

2  Dancing  is  associated  by  the  modem  Hindoos  with  lax 
morality :  but  this  cannot  always  have  been  the  case  for  in 
most  Hindoo  romances  the  heroine  is  accomplished  in  that  art. 


404  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

laughing  in  its  purity  at  the  grossness  of  the 
materials  by  which  she  is  surrounded! 

So  they  two  delighted  each  other  in  that  ruined 
city,  bathed  in  the  moonlight,  and  the  ecstasy  of 
the  mutual  infatuation  of  first  love.  But  in  the 
meanwhile,  the  jeweller,  to  whom  Ranga  had  taken 
Wanawallari's  bracelet,  was  filled  with  amaze- 
ment when  he  saw  it.  And  he  said  to  himself: 
Where  did  this  Rajpoot  get  such  a  jewel,  which 
could  not  be  matched  in  the  city?  So  after  buy- 
ing it  for  a  very  low  price,  he  followed  Ranga 
without  his  knowledge,  and  saw  him  making  pur- 
chases in  the  bazaar :  and  finally  he  dogged  his 
footsteps  at  a  distance,  when  he  returned  to  the 
empty  city.  And  when  those  lovers  met,  that 
ciirious  jeweller  looked  round  the  comer  of  the 
street,  and  saw  them.  But  they  never  noticed 
him,  for  they  were  lost  in  oblivion  of  everything 
in  the  world  except  themselves.  Then  still  more 
astonished  than  before,  the  jeweller  said  to  him- 
self: The  beauty  of  this  woman  exceeds  that  of 
all  others  as  much  as  does  that  bracelet,  which  is 
doubtless  hers,  all  other  jewels  of- its  kind:  and 
now  there  must  be  a  story  in  this  matter.  So 
after  waiting  a  while,  and  watching  them,  he  re- 
turned slowly  and  reluctantly  to  his  own  house. 
And  when  he  got  there  he  found  the  whole  city 
in  uproar.     And  when  he  enquired  the  reason, 


Nectar  405 

the  people  said:  Somebody  or  other  has  come  b/ 
night  and  carried  away  the  King's  daughter. 
And  there  is  a  great  reward  for  the  man  who  can 
find  out  who  took  her,  and  where  she  is. 

And  instantly  the  jeweller  took  his  bracelet,  and 
ran  at  full  speed  to  the  King's  palace.  And  being 
admitted,  he  told  his  story  and  showed  the  brace- 
let. And  the  King  recognised  it  as  his  daughter's ; 
and  sent,  without  a  moment's  delay,  guards,  who 
led  by  the  jeweller,  went  as  quickly  as  possible  to 
the  empty  city.  And  while  those  lovers,  forgetful 
of  everything,  were  intoxicating  each  other's  eyes 
in  the  moonlight,  suddenly  they  heard  a  shout, 
and  the  King's  guards  rushed  in  and  seized  them, 
and  carried  them  away  prisoners  to  the  King. 

But  Water-lily  saw  them  go.  And  she  tossed 
her  pretty  head,  and  yawned.  And  she  said: 
Now  I  have  kept  my  promise  to  the  gods,  and 
caused  the  King  to  discover  the  hiding-place  of 
these  foolish  lovers.  And  I  have  done  enough 
for  this  fellow,  and  I  am  beginning  to  be  tired  of 
him.  Strange!  how  soon  these  mortals  pall  on 
me !  they  have  nothing  permanently  interesting 
about  them,  and  any  fancy  that  I  have  for  them 
passes  off  like  a  shadow  almost  as  soon  as  it 
arrives.  But  still,  he  is  the  best-looking  man  that 
I  ever  saw.  And  so,  I  will  do  him  one  more  good 
turn,  and  then  leave  him  to  shift  for  himself. 


4o6  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

XVIII 

THE   FAVOUR   OF   FORTUNE 

So  Wanawallari  and  her  lover  were  carried 
quickly  back  to  the  palace,  and  brought  in  by  the 
guards  before  the  King.  And  when  the  King  saw 
them,  he  clapped  his  hands:  and  he  said:  Ha! 
so  the  flown  bird  and  her  decoy  are  caged.  And 
now,  what  shall  be  done  to  the  daughter  who 
brings  disgrace  upon  her  family  by  running  away 
with  strolling  Rajpoots?  Or  what  does  the  thief 
deserve  who  breaks  into  the  palaces  of  kings  by 
night  and  carries  off  their  daughters  and  their 
choicest  gems? 

Then  said  Wanawallari :  O  father,  let  not  anger 
blind  thee  to  justice.  For  though  I  have  acted 
independently,  I  have  done  nothing,  as  thou  shalt 
find,  to  disgrace  either  myself  or  thee.  For  know, 
that  this  husband  of  mine  is,  like  myself,  the  child 
of  a  king,  and  even  himself  a  king.  And  as  for 
me,  did  not  Draupadi  and  Damayanti  choose 
their  own  husbands?  And  was  not  Shakuntald 
wedded  to  Dushyanta  by  the  Gdndharwa  cere- 
mony, and  Bharata  was  their  son?  But  the  King 
said:  Enough,  O  daughter!  Thy  husband  shall 
die  with  the  rising  of  the  sun,  however  it  may  be 
with  thee.  Then  said  Wanawallari:  Then  wilt 
thou  be  the  murderer  of  thy  own  flesh  and  blood : 


The  Favour  of  Fortune  407 

for  he  is  my  husband,  and  I  will  die  with  him. 
And  the  King  laughed.  And  he  said:  O  my 
daughter,  that  art  no  longer  my  daughter,  dost 
thou  really  think  to  persuade  me  that  I  am 
obhged  to  this  Rajpoot  for  carrying  thee  away; 
or  to  thee  for  causing  scandal  by  running  away 
with  him,  like  an  independent  woman  of  no 
family,  of  thy  own  accord? 

Then  said  Wanawallari :  O  father,  listen  for  a 
moment;  and  afterwards  put  us  both,  if  thou 
wilt,  to  death,  and  not  him  alone.  This  is  no 
common  matter,  and  sure  I  am,  that  the  deity  has 
a  hand  in  it.  Tell  me  only  this,  for  thou  knowest 
me  well :  was  I  one  to  act  lightly  ?  And  the  King 
said  with  bitterness:  It  is  that  very  thing  which 
makes  thy  behaviour  incomprehensible.  For  I 
thought  thee  another  Sita:  and  lo!  thou  hast 
leaped  from  thy  window  into  the  arms  of  a  wan- 
dering Rajpoot!  Who  can  fathom  the  nature  of 
women  or  the  bottomless  abyss  of  their  frivolity? 
They  talk  to  one  man,  and  look  at  another,  and 
think  of  a  third. ^  They  are  but  deceit  incarnate 
in  a  form  of  illusion.  For  four  things  are  insati- 
able of  four:  ocean,  of  rivers,  and  death,  of  mor- 
tals, and  fire,  of  fuel,  and  woman,  of  man. 

'  This  is  the  ungallant  opinion  of  Bhartrihari,  based  it  may 
be  on  some  fierce  fiery  pang  of  a  jealous  heart,  long  since  gone 
to  dust  and  ashes. 


4o8  A  Lotas  of  the  World 

Then  said  Wanawallari :  But  one  question  I 
have  to  ask  thee,  and  it  is  the  last :  Of  whom  didst 
thou  destine  me  to  be  the  bride:  Was  it  not  the 
King  of  Awanti?  And  the  King  said :  Yes.  Then 
Wanawallari  took  her  husband  by  the  hand.  And 
she  said:  Here  he  is.  And  now  I  am  his  wife: 
and  be  sure,  that  the  deity  himself  has  brought 
this  about.  For  know,  that  last  night,  this  man 
climbed  into  my  room.  And  I  paused  for  a 
moment  ere  I  gave  him  to  the  guards,  for  I  pitied 
him  for  his  beauty  and  his  youth.  And  I  said  to 
him:  Who  art  thou?  And  he  said:  I  am  the 
King  of  Awanti.  And  I  started,  and  I  listened 
to  his  story ;  and  as  I  listened,  he  stole  away  my 
heart  through  my  eyes  and  my  ears.  And  I  saw 
before  me,  not  that  hideous  Rd,kshasa  for  whom 
I  was  destined  as  a  victim  of  thy  political  neces- 
sity, but  the  God  of  Love  in  human  form.  And 
know,  that  rather  than  become  the  bride  of  that 
other,  who  has  driven  away  my  husband,  and 
keeps  by  force  a  kingdom  not  his  own,  I  would 
have  thrown  myself  down  from  my  window,  and 
I  looked  upon  myself  as  already  dead.  For  I 
knew  that  policy  was  thy  first  consideration,  and 
that  I  must  be  a  sacrifice.  And  I  looked  upon 
him  who  is  my  husband,  as  I  listened  to  his  tale, 
as  one  sent  by  the  deity  himself,  and  as  new  life 
in  the  form  of  a  man.     For  how  could  chance 


The  Favour  of  Fortune  409 

have  brought  into  my  window  the  very  king  to 
whom  I  was  betrothed,  if  not  by  the  express 
agency  of  the  deity  himself?  Moreover,  thy  own 
interest  was  concerned:  and  if  thou  wilt  let  thy 
reason  speak,  I  have  done  thee  no  injury,  but  a 
service.  For  why  wouldst  thou  have  had  me  the 
bride  of  that  usurper,  but  to  ally  to  thee  the  king- 
dom which  he  holds?  And  how  art  thou  injured, 
if  thou  hast  gained  for  the  husband  of  thy  daugh- 
ter not  the  false  king  but  the  true?  Do  my  hus- 
band right,  and  instead  of  putting  him  to  death, 
help  him  to  regain  his  throne:  and  thou  shalt 
gain  for  a  bad  ally  a  good  one :  as  I  have  gained 
for  myself  a  good  husband  for  a  bad  one:  and  a 
kingdom  for  all  three  of  us. 

Then  the  King  exclaimed  in  amazement:  This 
is  but  an  idle  tale,  concocted  between  thy  lover 
and  thyself  to  deceive  me.  And  then  Ranga 
spoke.  And  he  said :  O  King,  till  now  I  have  not 
spoken,  for  I  would  not  beg  my  life,  and  I  con- 
sidered it  as  a  thing  gone  past  recall.  But  know, 
that  as  to  what  concerns  myself,  thy  daughter 
has  told  thee  nothing  but  the  truth :  and  so  far 
from  arranging  it  together,  she  never  told  me 
anything  about  it,  and  all  that  concerns  my 
uncle,  and  thyself,  and  her,  is  news  to  me,  and  I 
hear  it  for  the  first  time.  So  now  put  me,  if  thou 
wilt,  to  death,  or  if  thou  wilt,  keep  me  under 


4IO  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

guard,  and  make  enquiry.  And  if  it  is  not  true, 
put  me  to  a  hundred  deaths  instead  of  one.  Or 
lend  me,  if  thou  wilt,  but  a  little  force,  and  I  will 
put  myself  upon  my  throne.  For  my  subjects 
love  me,  and  submit  to  my  uncle  only  from 
necessity ;  and  be  sure,  that  he  covets  thy  alliance 
only  because  he  knows  that  he  is  weak,  and  can- 
not stand  without  support.  So  do  according  to 
thy  will.  Only  visit  not  thy  anger  on  thy  daugh- 
ter, for  I  only  am  to  blame.  And  yet,  I  think 
that  even  I  am  not  without  excuse.  Look  at  her 
as  she  stands,  and  blame  me  if  thou  canst;  for 
even  a  god  would  fall  if  tempted  by  a  beauty  such 
as  hers.  Yet  know,  that  it  was  accident  and  not 
intention  that  brought  about  our  union.  For  I 
climbed  up  into  thy  tower,  not  knowing  what  was 
there.     And  now,  I  am  in  thy  hands. 

And  as  he  spoke.  Water-lily  put  beauty  in 
his  limbs  and  courage  in  his  voice.  And  the 
King  watched  him,  against  his  will,  with  admira- 
tion. And  he  said  to  himself:  He  says  well,  for 
my  daughter  might  turn  a  sage  from  his  devotion. 
And  he  himself  is  one  whom  a  maiden  might  be 
forgiven  for  admiring,  for  I  have  never  seen  a 
finer  man.  Certainly,  if  only  the  tale  were  true, 
he  would  make  a  son-in-law  well  fitted  to  my 
daughter.  So  when  Ranga  had  made  an  end, 
the  King  stood  looking  at  him  under  his  brows, 


The  Favour  of  Fortune  4" 

balanced  in  the  swing  of  irresolution,  between 
his  anger,  and  his  affection  for  his  daughter,  and 
the  influence  of  the  tale.  And  as  he  stood  in 
silence,  Wanawallari  came  and  knelt  at  his  feet. 
And  she  said :  O  father,  do  not  kill  him,  but  pro- 
tect him,  and  it  will  be  thy  gain.  But  as  for  me, 
deal  with  me  as  thou  wilt.  For  I  have  acted 
rashly,  and  I  deserve  only  punishment  and  dis- 
grace. I  am  only  a  weak  woman,  and  his  beauty 
carried  me  away.  Yet  know,  that  thy  posterity 
is  within  me,  and  there  stands  the  father  of  thy 
grandson.  And  dost  thou  think  that  such  a  man 
as  that  would  beget  a  son  to  bring  disgrace  on 
thee  and  me  ?  And  she  looked  at  her  father,  with 
tears  falling  from  her  eyes  like  rain.  And  they 
fell  upon  his  anger,  and  melted  it,  and  overcame 
him.  And  he  took  her  in  his  arms,  and  kissed 
her,  stroking  her  hair  with  his  hand.  And  he 
said:  Dear  daughter,  I  cannot  be  thy  enemy, 
even  if  I  would,  and  the  tears  in  thy  eyes  have 
brought  tears  into  my  own.  And  if  thou  hast 
acted  very  rashly,  I  will  not  follow  thy  example. 
Let  thy  husband  stay  with  me,  and  I  will  investi- 
gate the  truth:  and  if  it  be  as  thou  sayest,  we 
will  see  what  can  be  done  for  him. 

Then  Wanawallari  caught  him  round  the  neck 
with  a  cry,  and  wept  upon  his  breast.  And  by 
the  help  of  that  King,  Ranga  regained  his  throne, 


412  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

and  got  Wanawallari  for  his  queen.     For  a  hus- 
band's fortune  is  the  virtue  of  his  wife. 

XIX 

THE   TRIUMPH    OF    BEAUTY 

And  then,  Water-lily  left  him,  and  quitted 
the  earth,  and  flew  up  to  heaven.  And  there  she 
found  all  the  gods  assembled  in  Indra's  hall. 
And  instantly  she  began  to  mock  them.  And  she 
exclaimed:  Now  you  may  see  how  vain  it  is  for 
any  or  even  all  of  you  together  to  contend  with 
me.  For  this  Rajpoot  has  attained  prosper- 
ity in  spite  of  your  dislike,  by  my  favour;  and 
as  for  Indra,  he  was  utterly  worsted  by  beauty, 
when  he  met  it  in  the  form  of  a  mortal  woman. 
And  after  having  flouted  them,  she  went  away, 
laughing  in  triumph  as  she  went,  and  casting 
back  upon  them  over  her  shoulder  glances  out  of 
the  comer  of  her  almond  eyes  that  pierced  the 
heart  of  the  gods  like  poisoned  needles. 

And  then  they  looked  at  each  other,  and  said: 
We  have  all  been  made  fools  by  this  wicked 
Water-lily  ;  and  now  this  is  utterly  intolerable. 
And  Indra  said:  Though  that  mortal  scoffer, 
whom  I  forgave  for  the  sake  of  his  wife,  was 
to  blame,  yet  she  will  bring  him  back  to  his 
duty.     But  the  real  culprit  in  this  matter  is  this 


The  Triumph  of  Beauty  4' 3 

mischievous  goddess.  For  she  took  us  all  in  by  a 
show  r)f  submission,  unc]  has  shown  fa\'our  to  a 
nK)rta]  who  flattered  lier  wanity,  out  of  a  capri- 
cious desire  to  tease  and  annoy  us  all.  There- 
fore now  we  must  |)unish  and  })ut  a  stop  to  her 
proceedings:  for  if  she  be  allowed  to  go  on,  ever\'- 
tln'ng  liuman  and  (]i\-ine  will  be  thrown  into  con- 
fusi<jn.  And  now  she  is  voung,  and  capable  of 
im])rovement :  l)ut  imless  she  be  kept  in  order, 
she  will  get  worse  and  worse.  Therefore  we  must 
look  to  it  without  loss  of  time. 

Thereupon  the\'  all  came  in  a  body  to  me.^ 
But  I  said  to  them:  This  is  not  my  aflfair.  Go 
to  Xarayana,  if  you  have  any  complaint  to  make 
against  Water-lily.  For  to  punish  the  wife  is 
the  dutv  of  none  but  the  husband.  z\.nd  I  sent 
them  away.  Thereuj^on  the  gods  hunted  through 
the  universe  for  Narayana,  but  for  a  long  time  in 
vain.  And  tlien  at  last  they  found  him  alone  in 
the  very  middle  of  the  sea,  lying  on  the  leaf  of 
a  lotus  as  it  floated  about  on  the  waves,  sucking 
his  left  toe,  and  buried  in  meditation.  And  as 
they  came  and  ranged  themselves  in  silence  before 
him,  the  adorable  Hari  politely  took  his  toe  from 
his  mouth,  and  gazed  at  them  curiously  with 
great  dreamy  eyes,  as  much  as  to  say:  What  do 
you  want  of  me? 

'  Sc.  Maheshwara. 


414  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

Then  the  gods,  with  Indra  for  spokesman,  hav- 
ing first  bowed  respectfully  before  him,  said:  O 
Achyuta,  we  have  come  to  complain  to  thee  of  the 
conduct  of  thy  wife :  who  has  made  us  all  ridicu- 
lous by  taking  the  part  of  a  mortal  that  showered 
abuse  on  us,  simply  because  he  loaded  her  alone 
with  flattery  and  praise.  And  she  laughs  in  our 
faces  into  the  bargain,  though  she  is  the  youngest 
of  us  all.  And  now  she  has  hidden  herself  some- 
where or  other  and  cannot  be  found.  Therefore 
our  prayer  to  thee  is,  that  she  may  be  taught  by 
thee  the  due  bounds  of  propriety  and  decorum, 
and  respect  for  her  elders.  For  our  dignity  is 
diminished  by  the  wilful  independence  of  her 
behaviour. 

And  then,  that  husband  of  Water-lily  whis- 
pered very  gently  the  name  of  his  wife.  And  low 
though  it  was,  the  sound  of  that  whisper  vibrated 
through  the  three  worlds  into  the  uttermost  parts 
of  space :  and  the  universe  echoed  to  its  tone  like 
a  lute  whose  strings  tremble  at  the  touch  of  the 
wind.  And  as  that  ubiquitous  murmur  sank  and 
died  away  into  a  hush,  the  sea  began  to  bubble 
and  foam,  and  suddenly  the  goddess  of  beauty 
rose  up  out  of  the  lather  of  its  waves  for  the 
second  time.^     And  she  stood  with  her  little  feet 

>  The  first  time  was  when  she  was  bom,  at  the  churning  of 
ocean. 


The  Triumph  of  Beauty  4' 5 

resting  on  the  back  of  a  tortoise,  and  the  sea 
water  dropping  from  her  limbs  that  seemed  to 
sparkle  with  the  beauty  of  its  salt.  And  her  neck 
resembled  a  shell,  and  on  the  pearl  of  its  surface 
was  reflected  the  dark  shadow  of  the  green 
emeralds  that  hung  round  it ;  and  she  held  in  one 
hand  a  dark  blue  lotus  of  exactly  the  same  colour 
as  her  long-cornered,  lash-netted,  shadowy  eyes. 
And  the  graceful  creepers  of  her  soft  round  arms, 
and  the  extremities  of  her  smooth  and  tapering 
legs,  whose  knees  bent  a  little  inwards,  were 
loaded  with  rings  of  red  coral  that  blushed  with 
envy  at  the  colour  of  her  lips,  which  smiled  as  if 
conscious  of  their  own  superiority:  while  her 
bosom,  whose  two  breasts  were  turned  slightly 
away  from  each  other  like  sisters  that  have 
quarrelled,  rose  very  gently  up  and  down  as  if 
keeping  time  to  the  music  of  the  sea.  And  she 
held  up  with  her  left  hand  a  coil  of  the  blue  hair 
which  fell  in  masses  from  her  head,  and  en- 
circled her  like  a  cloud  blown  by  the  breeze :  and 
its  end  trailed  away  over  the  ocean  waves.  So 
she  stood  in  silence,  bending  a  little  forward,  till 
a  three-fold  wrinkle  showed  in  the  soft  fold  of 
her  slender  waist,  while  the  foam  plashed  and 
lapped  over  the  back  of  the  tortoise  that  sup- 
ported her,  hungry  to  kiss  the  arched  instep  of 
her  tiny  pearly- toed  feet.     And  her  eyes  looked 


4i6  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

far  away,  fixed  on  the  horizon  of  that  sky- 
bounded  ocean  plain. 

And  the  gods  looked  at  her  in  silence,  and  then 
at  each  other.  And  each  knew  what  the  other 
thought,  though  no  one  spoke.  And  each  one 
said  to  himself:  How  is  it  possible  to  accuse  such 
a  beautiful  creature  as  this  of  anything  whatever, 
much  less  punish  her.  So  they  all  stood  gazing 
at  her,  confoiuided  and  abashed,  and  intoxicated, 
and  silent,  while  she  waited  before  them,  and 
Wishnu  watched  both  her  and  them  with  dreaming 
eyes.  And  suddenly  the  gods  turned,  as  if  by 
mutual  consent.  And  without  speaking,  they  all 
flew  away  together  over  the  sea,  and  disappeared 
on  its  edge  like  a  flock  of  birds. 

And  then  Wishnu  looked  at  his  wife  with  a 
glance  of  ineffable  affection.  And  after  a  while 
he  beckoned  to  her  with  a  smile.  Then  Water- 
lily  came  at  once,  and  sat  down  at  the  feet  of 
her  lord,  and  began  to  rub  them  gently  with  a 
hand  softer  than  the  lotus  which  she  laid  beside 
them.  And  Wishnu  watched  her,  opening  and 
closing  his  dreamy  eyes,  while  the  waves  rocked 
their  lotus  couch  quietly  up  and  down.  And  the 
sun  set,  and  the  night  fell,  leaving  them  alone 
together  in  the  darkness  on  the  bosom  of  the  sea. 


Epilogue 


417 


EPILOGUE 

And  then  Maheshwara  ceased.  And  he  put 
up  his  hand,  and  took  the  Kathaka  out  of  his  hair, 
and  set  him  down.  And  he  said:  Thou  hast 
heard :  Go  now,  and  tell  thy  story  to  the  King. 

But  instead  of  going,  the  Kathaka  fell  with  his 
face  upon  the  snow.  And  he  exclaimed:  O 
Maheshwara,  O  Shambu,  O  Three-eyed  Trident- 
bearer,  0  Lord  of  All  and  Giver  of  Boons,  thou 
hast  sanctified  my  ears  with  the  nectar  of  thy 
tale.  Yet  O!  grant  me  yet  one  other  boon.  So 
Maheshwara  said:  What  is  that?  And  the 
Kathaka  said :  O  show  me  but  a  single  glimpse 
of  that  wave-bom  beauty,  as  she  rose  out  of  the 
sea  before  the  gods. 

Then  the  Great  God  said  privately  to  his  wife: 
See  now,  how  these  dim-sighted  stupid  mortals 
ask  for  they  know  not  what,  and  rush  ignorantly 
upon  their  own  destruction.  And  he  said  to  the 
Kathaka:  Dost  thou  really  desire  to  see  that  im- 
mortal beauty?  The  Kathaka  said:  Yes.  Then 
said  the  god  to  Uma :  Go  quickly  and  find  Water- 
lily,  and  tell  her  only  that  I  have  need  of  her 
favour  for  a  moment. 

419 


420  A  Lotus  of  the  World 

Then  his  wife  flew  away  like  a  flash  of  lightning. 
And  they  waited  there  in  silence,  the  Great  God 
and  the  mortal,  while  the  diadem  of  the  deity 
shone  out  over  the  lonely  peaks  of  snow.  And 
after  a  while,  the  Daughter  of  the  Mountain  re- 
turned, bringing  Water-lily  with  her.  Then 
that  beautiful  one  said:  I  am  here:  and  now, 
what  favour  has  the  Great  God  to  confer  upon 
me? 

And  Maheshwara  said :  O  darling  of  N^rdyana, 
here  is  a  poor  devil  of  a  mortal,  to  whom  I  have 
granted  a  boon.  Do  me  this  favour:  show  thy- 
self for  a  single  instant.  And  he  said  to  the 
Kathaka:  Look  up  now,  and  see. 

And  the  Kathaka  raised  his  head,  and  looked 
up  into  the  dark  expanse  of  sky,  stretching  over 
the  pallid  snowy  moonlit  peaks.  And  suddenly 
the  goddess  was  revealed  against  it,  like  a  picture 
painted  on  a  wall.  And  for  a  single  fraction  of 
an  atom  of  an  instant  of  time,  there  flashed  in  his 
eyes  the  vision  of  that  blinding  loveliness,  and 
over  two  hills  of  snow  a  pair  of  dark  blue  eyes  shot 
into  his  own,  and  withered  his  heart  like  a  blade 
of  dry  grass  in  a  sheet  of  forest  flame.  And  he 
uttered  a  cry,  and  caught  at  his  heart  with  both 
hands,  and  fell  upon  the  snow  dead. 

Then  said  Maheshwara:  How  could  a  mortal 
expect  to  endure  such  a  beauty  as  thine?     But 


Epilogue  42 1 

this  dead  body  must  not  remain  here.  And  he 
took  it  by  the  foot  with  his  purifying  hand,  and 
flung  it  away.  Then  that  empty  corpse  rushed 
with  a  whistle  through  the  ice-cold  air,  and  fell 
like  a  meteor  into  the  Ganges  at  Haradwara. 
But  the  soul  of  that  unlucky  Kathaka  instantly 
returned  to  earth  and  was  bom  again.  And  he 
became  a  poet,  who  wandered  in  the  world  all 
his  life  long,  hunting  with  a  heart  on  fire  for  the 
eyes  he  could  never  find. 


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